18 February 2008
Interview with ABC Radio National
Subject: Pacific workersThe new chief of Australian policy for the South Pacific says the Rudd Government is ready to consider a special plan for Pacific workers to do unskilled seasonal work in Australia. The Parliamentary Secretary for the South Pacific, Duncan Kerr, says the success of the pilot scheme being run by New Zealand will shape Australian thinking.
GRAEME DOBELL: In Opposition, the Labor Party produced a detailed plan for Pacific workers to come in to Australia to do work such as fruit picking. The plan would have allowed in 5,000 Pacific workers in the year, and ten thousand workers by year five of the scheme. The idea was that Islanders could enter Australia for up to three months to do seasonal work. Two and a half years on from that Labor policy discussion paper, the Party is in government and being much more cautious about a special scheme for Pacific workers. Now, the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Duncan Kerr, says Australia will wait on the outcome of New Zealand’s experiment with Pacific workers, which is already one year old.
DUNCAN KERR: We were examining the success of the New Zealand trial, which is using about 5,000 places. And we're going to make a decision on the basis of that assessment. But I can tell you there's no doubt that across the Pacific, one of the strongest messages that keeps coming through is that Pacific countries see this as very important. We know this to be very important for the Pacific, many commentators urge us with the view that it's maybe the most significant contribution we can make to the region.
GRAEME DOBELL: Mr Kerr says Australia has made no decision about whether to go ahead with a special visa for Pacific workers. But he says Pacific leaders will push Australia on the issue during Labor's current three year term in office and the New Zealand lead will be an important element.
DUNCAN KERR: All the reports I've got back today is that the scheme is working well and the protection is built in to make sure people are wisely selected, that they're paid full entitlement wages, that they're properly accommodated, that they're not taken advantage of, and that they return. But those things appear to be working well. But we haven't yet had the opportunity for a full cycle assessment, but the early signs are positive.
GRAEME DOBELL: Mr Kerr says the new government wants to repair what he calls a damaged relationship with the South Pacific. He's offering what he calls a different tone with a greater focus on partnership with Islands.
DUNCAN KERR: To recognise those areas where we have common interests, to build on those interests, and where we have disagreements to deal with those disagreements with respect. I think there's no doubt that our relationship with the Pacific was damaged to some degree by the perception that Australia was bullying and sometimes self-righteous.
GRAME DOBELL: But the new chief of Australia's Pacific policy echoes the previous government in arguing that Australia has special responsibilities in the region and would not cede influence in the Islands to other powers. Mr Kerr says the problems of Solomon Islands show what happens if Australia stands back from the South Pacific.
DUNCAN KERR: Solomon Islands was a great wake-up. It demonstrates the real costs that are involved if you allow a catastrophic disintegration of one of your neighbours. Nature abhors a vacuum. There is, I think, a broad acceptance that it is Australia's responsibility; it is the most powerful of the Pacific Island states, to be the guarantor of that regional security, but if we aren't, someone else will step in, and they may not have the most benign motivations. And they may not even be states, they may be criminal groups. So there are vulnerabilities that exist, so you can't turn your attention away from the Pacific and take the view that if they fall into crisis, it's not really something that will affect Australia.
Media inquiries: Mr Kerr's office - 02 6277 4991