Australia's 457 skilled visa program is under fire, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten calling for a crackdown on the use of foreign workers.
The 457 visa program allows businesses to employ skilled migrants for up to four years in jobs where there is a shortage of Australian workers.
Mr Shorten said foreign workers are being exploited under the current visa scheme.
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"People are coming here, being exploited and working for a few dollars an hour and this is a whole-scale problem," he said.
"The system needs to change and Labor is up for that change."
Labor has called for Australian jobs to be advertised locally for at least four weeks to make sure businesses attempted to employ Australian workers before advertising to jobseekers overseas.
"Now is the time to prioritise Australian jobs and we are going to do it by toughening the rules around visas and saying to those employers who have a need to employ overseas labour, that they should have a training plan to give locals a go," Mr Shorten said.
He said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should spend more time in regional communities as a way of understanding the challenges local workers face.
"Malcolm Turnbull needs to get out of the Sydney harbourside and start visiting regional Australia and talk to blue collar workers, talk to boilermakers, talk to tilers, talk to plasterers, talk to carpenters, talk to people who work in hospitality, talk to the farms where we see some of these problems," Mr Shorten said.
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But in a press conference this morning, Mr Turnbull slammed Labor's criticism of the scheme as hypocritical.
"Mr Shorten's hypocrisy on the subject of foreign workers is breathtaking," he said.
"The highest number of 457 visas were granted when he was the employment minister, around a third more 457 visas were granted when he was employment minister than have been granted over the last 12 months."
Mr Shorten called for the 457 visas changes in the One Nation stronghold of Townsville during his tour of regional Queensland.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson yesterday praised Labor's aggressive "Australia First" policies on social media, tweeting: “It seems Labor’s now taking its cues from One Nation. Good to see.”
But opposition employment spokesman Brendan O'Connor defended Labor's approach, insisting the party's policies were in no way aligned with those of One Nation.
"We firstly believe in a non-discriminatory immigration policy, so, that is a very distinct view compared to that of One Nation," Mr O'Connor said.
"We're worried about the exploitation of those workers, we're worried about good employers doing the right thing, and we're worried that local workers, out of the job market, who are missing out on opportunities.
"I think that's an entirely different proposition than the one that's being put forward by Senator Hanson."
Mr Turnbull said Labor's hypocrisy extends to its opposition to the government's backpacker tax legislation.
"This leader of the opposition is a rank opportunist, he is completely hypocritical on this issue," he said.
The Coalition has proposed a tax that would see foreign backpackers pay 19 per cent tax on every dollar they earn.
Labor has indicated it will move an amendment for a 10.5 per cent backpacker tax when the legislation comes up for debate.
"Nobody has been better at granting 457 visas than him and there he is now, saying that if one of our children, if one of your children, or grandchildren, goes out there to pick fruit, they will pay tax but a foreign backpacker, in Bill Shorten's world, will pay no tax at all."
