AUSTRALIA: Govt urged to reconsider admitting Pacific workers
Updated
An Australian Senator has called on the government of prime minister Kevin Rudd to reconsider the idea of letting in unskilled workers from the South Pacific. Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett says Australia's low unemployment rate of 4.1 percent means there are labour market shortages in many areas. The Senator says Australia should have a special scheme for Island workers to do seasonal farm work and not merely rely on tourist backpackers and international students to do part-time work.
Presenter: Graeme Dobell
Speakers: Deputy leader of the Australian Democrats, Andrew Bartlett
BARTLETT: What's been proposed by many people for quite awhile now in terms of letting workers in from Pacific Island nations. It would be a program specifically tailored to meeting very specific labour market gaps, whether it's locality-based or industry-based or seasonally-based. We have a much better likelihood of meeting the needs of the employers in Australia, who are clearly struggling in many areas, and also would obviously be beneficial to those people from the Pacific Islands that are allowed in and to the Pacific Island nation economies in many cases as well.
DOBELL: What sort of scheme would you be looking at? What sort of jobs should Pacific Islanders be coming to Australia to do?
BARTLETT: Well, I think anything they're capable of doing frankly and there was a senate inquiry last year that looked at these sorts of things and some of it was around agricultural, horticultural types of activities, other was service industry and manufacturing.
DOBELL: Although that senate inquiry at the end decided it was to politically hard to recommend opening the door to the Pacific?
BARTLETT: It did, which was I mean it was quite unusually honest in that respect, in that it basically said it's to close to the election, it's too hot a political potato. Well, we're passed the election now, and we should be able to re-examine these issues now on their merits, rather than worrying about the politics of it for the sake of the Australian economy as well as I think for those Pacific Island nations. The case is clear, and frankly I've always struggled to see, particularly when you do that parallel or the contrast between letting in Pacific Island workers and letting in more backpackers. Nothing against backpackers, but it's just no surprise frankly that some Pacific Island leaders and people at community level there, some of which I've met with over the years think there's some other agenda here. How can it be that we let in a whole lot of people with no references or qualifications, with no requirement to tie them specifically to an area or a time frame and we won't let in people from our own region. I think that would benefit our cultural and social links with the Pacific region, which frankly could be better, as well a real boost to the economies of those countries and we're looking for ways to help some of those countries.
DOBELL: Australia gives out more than 100,000 working tourist visa backpacker visas each year. What sort of size program should Australia have for the South Pacific?
BARTLETT: Well, I think for political reasons, it would be worth starting off with a trial program and that's what was at least considered by the Senate Committee, although rejected, an issue that was perhaps put on hold would be a better word for it until after the election. But a couple of senators on that committee, including Liberal senator, Guy Barnett, did recommend some sort of trial, and I think that would be the way to go. We've seen similar sorts of schemes work fairly effectively in Canada, relying on people coming from the Caribbean and I think just starting it up with a small trial program, perhaps just from one or two selected countries to one or two particular areas would be a way of ironing out any issues there. There's always going to be issues in terms of preventing exploitation, as well as ensuring there's adequate housing especially, given the housing affordability crisis in Australia. But that applies whoever we try and get to fill the jobs. So we always need to make sure people aren't exploited and have got adequate conditions. And I think a small trial program would perhaps be a good way of not only addressing some of the political sensitivities, which obviously exist, but also ironing out any flaws or kinks in the program that might be there.
DOBELL: Should Australia give preference to Melanesia, to Papua New Guinea, Solomons, Vanuatu?
BARTLETT: Well, I think you can look on a case by case basis and then we've got the historical links with Papua New Guinea and some would argue extra obligations there. It would certainly be beneficial I think in terms of the Solomons. It's closer certainly to my state, Queensland, and we're trying to I think rebuild some links there as well as rebuilding the economy, it's flagged even Nauru, which is very away, but obviously very strong Australian links still use the Australian dollar. For example, a small number of people would have no significant issues in terms of Australia being able to accommodate those numbers, but a country that's economic circumstances are very difficult to put it politely. So I think you could look at a case-by-case basis, perhaps not somewhere like Fiji initially where there's issues there about flow ons from the coup etc. as well as just a larger country and larger numbers of people and those sorts of things. But from my position, I guess I'm not so much saying well, these pick on this country and not on that one. I'm more just at this stage, Australia is to be needing more people saying we should accept it in principle.
