Murphy Pipe & Civil has strongly denied allegations that it breached 457 visa sponsorship regulations, after the Department of Immigration and Border Protection yesterday carried out an inspection at the company’s offices.
In a statement today, the pipeline construction company said it has “never knowingly committed a breach of immigration laws, and has at all times engaged and relied upon professional migration agents to advise it about immigration matters”.
“MPC confirms that the Immigration Department recently carried out an inspection at its offices, and that inspections of this kind are commonly carried out by the department in respect of companies that employ 457 visa holders,” the company said.
It said the department conducted annual audits at its offices.
“MPC has cooperated and complied at all times with the department’s investigations,” the company said.
The company employs 900 staff, with 31 legally working in specialist roles within the Immigration Department’s 457 visa regulations, it said.
“These employees represent 2.9 per cent of our entire workforce and are sourced from a number of countries, including the United States of America, the Philippines, Britain, Canada, India and Ireland,’’ MPC said.
“MPC utilises the 457 visa scheme to source professional people in specialist areas such as mechanical engineering, testing and commissioning and senior project management, because these particular roles often require extensive industry experience and are often difficult to fill from within Australia.”
Yesterday, Business News reported the Immigration Department was investigating Murphy Pipe & Civil over allegations it had been employing a large number of 457 visa holders in low skilled positions “outside their nominated occupations”.
