IMMIGRATION Minister Peter Dutton's short lunch break at Sunny Harbour Seafood Restaurant in Hurstville was a perfect opportunity for owner Sunny Chang to get into the minister's ear about visas.
Mr Chang reckoned the Coalition government was a good government, but for the difficulty of obtaining visas for Chinese workers despite the recent Free Trade Agreement with China.
He said it was near impossible to get good Chinese chefs in Australia and he was also finding it difficult to get good kitchenhands.
Mr Dutton was unable to offer an immediate solution.
Mr Dutton was the guest of Banks MP David Coleman and spent Wednesday (August 26) visiting a number of multicultural community groups in the electorate and taking part in discussions on various matters including terrorism and loss of citizenship as well as increased access to visas due to religious persecution in the Middle East.
The biggest gathering was at St Cuthbert's Anglican Church in Carlton, where about 50 members of the Resourceful Australian Indian Network asked a variety of questions and lobbied for more government support for the elderly, particularly those with weaker family ties.
Summing up the day, Mr Coleman said that generally the community was supportive of the government's firm stand against terrorism.
"The community is also supportive of immigration, on humanitarian and economic grounds, but they want it managed effectively," Mr Coleman said.
"During the Minister's visit we discussed the ways in which the government is strengthening the immigration system in the area of citizenship, and through improved business links with China.
"We are working to deter young Australians from fighting in the Middle East."
Mr Coleman said the government had also initiated a number of important visa measures to further encourage business links between Australia and China.
"The relationship between Australia and China will grow," he said.
"For every dollar that we send to China, $2 comes to Australia. This generates thousands of Australian jobs.
"In fact, one quarter of Australia's entire international trade is with China."
