Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Before the last federal election, in April 2022 I was at a forum organised by AgForce Queensland—a Politics in the Pub in the Grand Hotel in Esk, in Somerset in my electorate. I was pleased to talk both formally in the debate and informally outside it about how Labor would reform, improve and expand the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility, or PALM, scheme. I commend the member for Riverina for his optimism and his political chutzpah in giving credit to the former government in relation to the expansion of the scheme under the current federal Labor government, where we saw the total number of workers rise to over 35,000 by the end of last year. It's a milestone that we achieved six months early. It's important for the Australian economy, and it's important for my electorate of Blair, a regional and rural electorate in South-East Queensland.

PALM workers are earning an income, developing skills and filling workforce shortages across 28 industries, including agriculture and food processing. It's particularly important to those two industries in my electorate, in terms of agriculture in rural Ipswich and the Somerset region, and in terms of meat processing at places like JBS at Dinmore and at other meat-processing facilities at Coominya and Kilcoy. But it's also important for the accommodation, hospitality and aged-care sectors, and, with great shortages in aged care, it's important for this scheme to operate. It's vital not just in my electorate but around the country, and workers in the scheme are employed under the same industry awards and legislation as Australian workers. That's important for the integrity of the scheme.

Employers must meet stringent criteria to participate, including compliance with workplace regulations and health and safety laws. Nine Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste are participating in the scheme, which is boosting economies and lifting families out of poverty. The reforms that we are making are familial, in terms of bringing families across, and financial, in assisting people in the scheme. In a region where more than a third of the people live on less than $1,000 a year, the ability to send home in excess of $10,000 or $15,000 in remittances is a huge economic boost for these families and the region.

We're delivering on our commitment to expand, reform and improve the scheme. It's a commitment we made before the election, and of course we commit to both addressing the Pacific's economic challenges and easing Australia's agricultural workforce shortages by reforming the Seasonal Worker Program and expanding the Pacific Labour Scheme. We said we'd ensure the federal government meets upfront travel costs for Pacific workers under the Seasonal Worker Program—that's the financial benefit—to increased the attractiveness of the program for Australian farmers. That was a point I made during a debate in April 2020 to a forum who weren't always my way inclined in terms of their political disposition.

We promised we'd make it easier for Pacific workers to fill labour shortages across the country and bring their family members there. That's exactly what we are doing. We've dedicated an agricultural visa stream under PALM and created a robust and sustainable four-year visa with portability, some strong oversight mechanisms and protection and rights for workers. This is about improving lives, mitigating critical skills shortages and contributing to our economy and to the economic resilience of the region.

In the member for Riverina's motion, he claims that recent additional growth in PALM numbers is due to the previous government's commitment, but I think he should look back at the history of this particular scheme. I would remind him that it was actually the Rudd Labor government that introduced the first Pacific labour mobility program in Australia, the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme, in 2008. Indeed, a lot of the policy work was done by Labor in opposition, prior to the 2007 election, by the then shadow minister for the Pacific Islands, Bob Sercombe, and his office, and it highlighted the two-way economic and foreign policy benefits of a Pacific seasonal worker program.

So those opposite can't claim credit for a program that we initiated and we've made improvements to since we've got into power. It's important to not get engaged in a bit of historical revisionism here and to tell the truth. It was Labor government scheme. It's a Labor government improvement on the scheme, and Labor's making a big difference to people. These workers will address important skills shortages. It'll help farmers in my electorate, and it'll help meat processors like JBS with their workforce shortages. I'm looking forward to working with those employers in my area to achieve better outcomes.

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