Australia toughens foreign worker visas

PM Turnbull, in a Facebook post, says Australian jobs are for Australians

Australia will abolish a temporary work visa popular with foreigners and replace it with a new programme requiring better English-language and job skills, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday.

Turnbull, struggling with poor voter approval ratings, rejected suggestions the visa policy change was in response to far-right wing political parties, such as One Nation, demanding more nationalistic policies.

But in a Facebook announcement Turnbull said: "Our reforms will have a simple focus: Australian jobs and Australian values."

In a similar vein, US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday directing changes to a temporary visa programme used to bring