In a statement today, Saravanan said Putrajaya did not bar any Malaysian intending to go abroad for employment, subject to the terms, conditions and laws of the relevant country.

He said there has been confusion on the matter recently after his deputy, Awang Hashim, responded to a question on Australia’s farming sector workers scheme in the Dewan Negara last week.

This scheme, Saravanan said, was introduced to address the shortage of workers in the farming sector in Australia, an issue that the Malaysian agricultural industry was facing too.

Saravanan, who was briefed on the scheme by Australian high commissioner Justin Lee last month, said Malaysia would not be emulating the visa programme for migrants here.

“The approach used by Australia will not be followed by Malaysia as it leads to an offer of permanent citizenship.

“Therefore, this matter is not related in any way to barring Malaysians from working abroad, including in Australia,” he said.

Australia’s farm visa scheme allows Australian employers to sponsor skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers from the region to work on their farms.

Workers are allowed to work there for three years, after which they could apply to become a permanent resident of Australia.

Awang had said Putrajaya was not planning to adopt Australia’s approach in boosting the workforce in the agricultural sector, as it was focusing on hiring locals to enter the industry.