Labor would triple foreign worker visa fee

A Labor government would triple the cost of temporary foreign worker visas to encourage bosses to look locally.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will make the announcement during a pre-budget speech to the McKell Institute in Sydney on Wednesday.

A four-year visa would cost about $1600 a year, up from the $575 a year for two years under the Turnbull government's new scheme.

The extra revenue from the visa fees would be used to establish a new skills training fund, Mr Shorten will say.

Labor would also create a new visa to attract the best and brightest to Australia in the areas of science, medicine, academia, research and technology and a new independent, labour market testing body would determine what skills are needed.

The new authority would create a single Skills Shortage Occupations List and advise government on skills shortages and future skills needs.

Mr Shorten's new policy comes in response to the government's decision last month to abolish the 457 visa program and replace it with two new temporary skills shortage visas, alongside tougher English testing.