Migrate Now immigration consultant Karen Woodham is based in Port Macquarie and she says the federal government’s Skills Select laws went against the Australian mantra of giving people a fair go.

The law will require oversees people to lodge an expression of interest, then wait in a pool of potential migrants until they get an invitation to lodge an application.

If no invitation is received after two years, the hopeful immigrant drops out of the system and has to go through the process again.

Mrs Woodham said the legislation would attract highly qualified workers to Australia, benefiting businesses in one way, but job opportunities for those who did not speak English well and were not tertiary educated would reduce significantly.

Irish, Filipino and Dutch workers were some of the nationalities who work in the Hastings in a range of occupations, Mrs Woodham said.

“My concern with this general skilled migration legislation is that it inhibits the freedom of migrant workers in that employers pick them from a database and lock them in to a two- or three-year contract,” she said.

“If the migrant decides they are not happy with working arrangements or conditions and wants to leave, the employer can dob them in and they could lose their residency.

“I’m sure the government has good reasons for introducing this legislation, but it shouldn’t forget that Australia was built on immigrants and workers from oversees contributed significantly to the development of the country.”

The system did need adjusting because it was too easy to abuse it, particularly with private institutions accepting oversees students into courses they never ended up finding work with, she said.

“It has been improved and I understand the need to protect Australian jobs but I hope this legislation doesn’t result in losing a valuable workforce provided by skilled migrants,” she said.