The 457 visa was developed by the Keating Labor government in 1994 to help multinational companies bring in executives on short-term contracts while avoiding the red tape that obstructs most migration applications.

A labour market expert, Bob Kinnaird, said it started out as "a lightly-regulated visa scheme designed for the international movement of someone working for KPMG or Deloittes on a salary of $300,000-plus", but has increasingly been used to fill gaps in the booming economy, especially in medicine and nursing, and lately the trades and other less skilled areas.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/scheme-expanded-to-...7/1188067034533.html