Backdown looms on school slug for visa kids

The Barnett Government is poised to water down another unpopular Budget measure and soften the $4000 fee for 457 temporary work visa holders to send their children to State schools.

Treasurer Troy Buswell announced the fee would apply from January in his Budget speech on August 8.

But Colin Barnett and some ministers have softened their language about it recently, suggesting it could be means tested. The fee was to raise $120 million over four years, meaning any change could create another Budget hole.

The fee caused disquiet among Government MPs, especially those from rural seats, and migrants and business groups have criticised it.

UNICEF says the policy may breach the Convention on the Rights of the Child for free primary education but the Premier rejected this.

"These people are of course taxpayers and we need to acknowledge that they pay tax while here," Nationals MLA Shane Love told Parliament last week.

"The idea that all these visa holders are working in the resource sector and are on high incomes is not the experience in my electorate - many are rural workers." He said many 457 visa scheme workers in rural areas filled vacant jobs. Many were Irish and Filipino and with others in manufacturing were on "fairly minimal" wages.

Education Minister Peter Collier said he would not speculate on "the new model" for the fee.

"Suffice to say we're working through that at the moment," he said yesterday.

On Friday, Mr Barnett defended the fee, saying it was similar in some other States.

But he added: "We have yet to determine the criteria.That is being worked on now. There will be charges, but how they will be structured, how they will apply, we haven't got to that point yet."

John Day, who represented Mr Collier in Legislative Assembly estimates last week, said there seemed to be a case for temporary work visa holders on much lower incomes in an agricultural area being treated differently to those on a high income in the resources sector.

Nationals leader Brendon Grylls said party colleagues lobbied him to have the fee ditched but that the Budget could not afford it after the solar feed-in tariff cutback was abandoned because of a public backlash.

"The final policy hasn't been worked out but the $120 million is important," Mr Grylls said.

Among those affected by the school charges is the Tomlin family.

The storied waves of Margaret River had always appealed to the surfer in meteorologist Brooks Tomlin.

So when a job at the Weather Bureau in Perth came up, the South Carolina man and his wife Christina packed up their life and two young children to shift across the world for an adventure.

In the three years since, the Tomlins have thrown themselves into the community. Cale , 8, loves soccer and T-ball and Sydney, 11, is a house captain at Como Primary School, a swim squad member and active in their church.

She was also offered a place in John Curtin High School’s selective arts program for next year.

But the State Government’s 457 temporary work visa education slug blindsided the family who are now wrestling with tough decisions over the $8000 a year it will cost to educate the children from January.

“We’re not rich, we’re not poor,” Mr Tomlin said.

“We’re doing OK but that’s a large amount.”

His Federal public service salary is about $85,000 and the family rents in Como, which generates land tax for the State.
They pay stamp duty on cars and insurance and Australian income tax but do not have access to Medicare and spend about $200 a month on health insurance.

Mr Tomlin does not complain about this — he knew the deal when he moved here.

But the Tomlins believe in public education and Mrs Tomlin teaches two days a week at Como’s pre-primary.

“We feel we’re contributing to the community and we certainly get a lot of value from the community and hope we can give our little bit back,” Mr Tomlin said.

But they now have “serious talks” about whether to stay in Perth or return to the US.