Visa violation fines stir debate Unions could find government support for their push to fine bosses who bring in workers on 457 visas without offering the jobs to Australians first. The plan is to target employers who mislead authorities about labour shortages to bring in workers on the special visas, News Ltd reports. Unions are said to be leaning on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to act before the September election. Foreign Minister Bob Carr says the government is united in its commitment to crack down on the misuse of 457 visas. "This is a matter of tackling abusers," he told Sky News on Sunday. And when cabinet colleagues have spoken about this, I think they have been quite convincing in referring to pockets of the economy where this has been abused. We want employers to make a decision to go for Australian workers where they're available and to go to foreign workers where that is necessary to have the project go ahead. Nationals leader Warren Truss says the reality is that there are often places, especially in remote areas, where no Australians want to work. And there are already plenty of barriers to employers bringing in overseas workers, he says. "It's very costly, there are all sorts of rules which apply to it so any employer would naturally prefer to have an Australian if they can get them," he told ABC TV. They should seek out the Australian market to get an employee if they can, but if they can't, then it ought to be as easy as possible to bring in a 457 visa (worker).