Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced the government will abolish 457 visas for temporary foreign workers and replace them with two new visa classes.

457 visas, otherwise known as temporary work visas, currently allow skilled workers to come to Australia and be sponsored by an approved business for up to four years, if the business cannot find an Australian citizen or permanent resident to do the job.

The introduction of the two new temporary skills visas – a two-year visa and a more specialised one for four years “targeted at higher skills” – will not affect current visa holders.

Mr Turnbull made the announcement via a Facebook video this afternoon, in which he stresed the reforms would focus on “Australian jobs and Australian values”.

In a joint press conference with the Prime Minister shortly after the video was released, immigration minister Peter Dutton said part of the appeal of the current 457 visa was that it was a four-year sponsorship, which had become a pathway to permanent residency.

He said a new two-year skilled work visa would have no permanent residency outcome and would require previous work experience.

A second four-year visa would require a high level of English proficiency and a criminal history check.

The list of qualifications that apply for these visas will also be shortened from the current number of more than 200.

The latest figures from the Immigration Department stated there had been a drop in 457 visas holders in Australia to 95,758 in September 2016.

The majority of the visa holders were from India, which accounted for almost a quarter of the intake, followed by the UK and China at 19.5 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, whose party had been calling for tougher restrictions on the use of skilled migrants, has slammed the reforms on Twitter, tweeting that “the only job Malcolm Turnbull cares about saving is his own”.

– with other agencies