Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Minister Giles for introducing these bills: the Migration Amendment (Australia's Engagement in the Pacific and Other Measures) Bill 2023 and the Migration (Visa Pre-application Process) Charge Bill 2023. These bills support the introduction of a new Pacific engagement visa, allowing up to 3,000 nationals of Pacific countries and Timor-Leste to come to Australia as permanent migrants each year. The new Pacific engagement visa is a groundbreaking signature initiative of the government's plan to build a stronger Pacific family. It is designed to grow the Pacific and Timor-Leste diaspora here in Australia. It reflects Australia's special relationship with the Pacific and Timor-Leste, and reflects the importance that Australia places on this relationship and our commitment to strengthening ties with the Pacific family.

Importantly, the visa program will address the under-representation of some of Australia's closest neighbours in our permanent Migration Program. In 2021-22, less than 1,000 permanent migrants came from Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste. That's a mere 0.7 per cent of the total migration program of 143,556 from that year. As Minister for International Development and the Pacific, I'm especially proud of this new visa program and the potential it offers to both the Pacific family and Australia. The Pacific and Timor-Leste diaspora already make an incredible contribution to Australian communities and have done so for many years.

I acknowledge the contribution of the Papua New Guinean, Fijian, Samoan, Tongan and the other Pasifika migrant communities in my own electorate of Shortland, and I know members value the contributions of Pacific migrants in their communities, particularly in electorates like Chifley, Werriwa, Rankin, Macarthur, Oxley and Greenway, amongst others, which have vibrant Pacific diasporas. Our government wants to grow and support Pacific diaspora communities in Australia as part of our wider agenda for strengthening Australia's relationships with countries of the Pacific and Timor-Leste.

The new visa will create new opportunities for people of the Pacific and Timor-Leste to live, work and be educated in Australia. This will deepen our bonds as people and enrich our communities and countries. Since coming into office last year, the government has been consulting with Pacific partners and Timor-Leste. These discussions have been invaluable, and we have adjusted the design of the program in response to their feedback. Let me repeat that: we have designed this program based on feedback from these countries.

These bills are the first steps in enabling implementation of the visa. The Pacific engagement visa will establish a permanent resident visa program, commencing in July 2023, for participating countries across the Pacific and Timor-Leste. Up to 3,000 visas, inclusive of partners and dependent children, will be allocated annually through a ballot process. The ballot system will ensure equal and transparent access to the visa pathway. The ballot will be open to eligible nationals of participating Pacific countries and Timor-Leste. This will include Pacific nationals who are already in Australia on a valid temporary visa, such as those working here under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme.

Eligible participants aged 18 to 45 will register in a ballot. Participants randomly selected through the ballot can then apply for the visa and include their partner and dependent children in their application. To be granted a visa, they'll need to have a formal full-time job offer in Australia and meet basic English language, health and character requirements. To maximise the prospects of successful ballot entrants finding work and taking up visas, we will be providing additional support to secure employment. An offshore service provider will work directly with successful ballot entrants to connect them with employers in Australia, providing access to a variety of roles at a range of skills levels. The service provider will also guide successful entrants through the visa application process, deliver culturally and linguistically relevant program outreach, and help prepare visa holders for life in Australia. As permanent residents, Pacific engagement visa holders will have the choice to live and work where they prefer, and they can change employers like any Australian citizen or other permanent resident.

While finding employment in Australia will be an important first step, we know the success of this initiative will ultimately depend on the growth of a healthy and engaged Pacific diaspora and a positive settlement experience for each individual or family. That's why we are extending supports and services to Pacific engagement visa holders beyond the usual supports provided to permanent residents upon arrival in Australia. In addition to access to Australia's universal healthcare and public schooling systems, participants will be eligible for post-arrival settlement support through the Settlement Engagement and Transition Support program. They will also have access to the Adult Migrant English Program.

We are committed to growing a vibrant and engaged diaspora through the visa. As such, it's important that participants are assured basic levels of economic security. Subject to the introduction and passage of further legislation, we will be providing early access to a range of benefits to support the cost of raising a family and ease the financial burden of education and training. This will include access to family tax benefit A and eligibility for healthcare card and rent assistance. To promote opportunities for education, career development and economic mobility, participants will have immediate access to the Higher Education Loan Program, VET student loans and Austudy and youth allowance payments. Access to education and training will broaden the scope of participation across a range of skill levels and experiences, addressing concerns in our region around brain drain.

My friend the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs has outlined the bills in his second reading speech, but I want to add to his remarks by explaining how the bills will support the Pacific engagement visa. The Migration Amendment (Australia's Engagement in the Pacific and Other Measures) Bill 2023 will create a legislative framework for the ballot process which is used to randomly select entrants to apply for the new visa. The bill amends the Migration Act 1958 to allow the minister to implement a visa pre-application process. This visa pre-application process, a ballot, will involve the random selection of eligible persons. Selection via ballot process will be a legal requirement to apply for a visa where this is specified as a requirement in the Migration Regulations.

Specifically, the bill inserts a new section 46C in the Migration Act providing legislative authority for the minister to arrange a visa pre-application process to be conducted in relation to one or more visas. It allows the minister to make a determination setting out details of eligibility to participate in a visa pre-application process and arrangements for the conduct of the process. It amends section 46 of the Migration Act to clarify that regulations specifying the criteria for making a valid visa application can include a requirement that the visa applicant have been selected in a visa pre-application process.

The Migration (Visa Pre-application Process) Charge Bill 2023 applies a charge on persons who register as participants in a visa pre-application process. The charge bill provides that the amount of the charge cannot be more than $100, indexed in line with the consumer price index. The government, importantly, intends to apply a fee of $25 for registering to enter the Pacific engagement visa.

The Pacific engagement visa is part of a wider package of policies to deepen Australia's ties with the Pacific and build a stronger and more united Pacific family. In the 2022-23 budget, the government announced several new measures to strengthen the Pacific family and meet our election commitments. These measures build on and expand the former government's Pacific Step-up policies. They include an additional $900 million in official development assistance over four years to increase support to the Pacific family's development and resilience, including in education and health; new investments to advance Pacific security and engagement priorities; strengthening the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, including through the establishment of the Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership; and a new Indo-Pacific broadcasting strategy to provide better tailored broadcasting services and support for a diverse, independent and professional regional media sector.

We've already delivered on our commitment to expand the Pacific Australia Labor Mobility scheme, and we'll continue to work to improve the program in consultation with participants and partner governments. More than 35,000 Pacific and Timor-Leste workers are already making an incredible contribution to Australia's regional communities in critical fields like agriculture and aged care under this temporary migration program. The new Pacific engagement visa will help improve the balance between permanent and temporary migrants from the Pacific and Timor-Leste. As a proud member of the Pacific family, Australia is committed to working with all countries in the Pacific to achieve our shared aspirations and address our shared challenges. Pacific and Timor-Leste views of been central to the design of this visa. The government has consulted extensively to ensure that the Pacific engagement visa meets the shared needs and priorities of our Pacific and Timor-Leste partners.

We have consulted and listened to the governments of all 13 countries in scope for the program since August 2022. We've consulted with Pacific employer, business and training organisations. We've also had close engagement with stakeholders in Australia, including non-government organisations, expert researchers, diaspora communities, churches, PALM scheme employers and workers, and Australian employers. The foreign minister and I have also had extensive engagements across the region with leaders and counterparts. Between the two of us, we have visited each Pacific island country and Timor-Leste since June last year. This includes the resumption of the important bipartisan visit to the Pacific. The introduction of this bill does not mark an end to consultations. We will continue to listen to and incorporate Pacific and Timor-Leste views through the visa's implementation and operation. We will continue to monitor, evaluate, adjust and refine the program to ensure that this groundbreaking initiative is delivering for all engaged. Participating countries will decide on the extent and nature of their participation in the program.

In establishing this visa, we want to make a uniquely Australian contribution to the Pacific family by being reliable, turning up, showing respect, listening and being transparent and open. Pacific people are rightly proud of their culture and traditions, and will want to maintain close links through family, church, support and businesses. So the Pacific engagement visa will encourage free-flowing movement of participants between their home countries and Australia. The program will contribute to the economic development of Pacific countries through remittances, opportunities for skills exchange, and investment. We are particularly conscious of the need to ensure that, in establishing this visa, we do not deprive Pacific countries of skills and talent. That's why we're putting in place measures to help successful ballot entrants find employment in Australia that matches their experience and capabilities, ensuring that this program is accessible to participants from a range of backgrounds, trades and professions.

That's why the ballot part of this visa is critical, and that's why I was so distressed when I saw the statement by the shadow immigration minister yesterday, saying that the opposition will oppose this bill based on the ballot. They fundamentally misunderstand the nature and operation of this visa and are undermining this complete operation. If you do not have a ballot, you do not ensure that you address the brain drain concerns of the Pacific. That is the fundamental point of this, and that is why it's been based on a highly successful New Zealand visa model.

This initiative has been welcomed by Pacific governments and leaders, stakeholders, policy experts and respected development agencies. For example, in the fourth PNG-Australia Annual Leaders' Dialogue joint statement, PNG's Prime Minister, Prime Minister Marape, 'welcomed Australia's commitment to provide in-country support for Pacific engagement visa applicants to connect with employers in Australia'.

Importantly, the program responds to expert recommendations that Australia learn from the New Zealand experience of Pacific migration, by introducing a dedicated permanent pathway to complement our existing temporary labour schemes. This was a recommendation by a parliamentary committee chaired by the opposition when they were in government that they are now walking away from. A 2017 World Bank report highlighted the effectiveness of New Zealand's Pacific access category and Samoan quota visa programs, and recommended that Australia consider a similar program. These views have also been supported by eminent Australian experts such as Professor Stephen Howes from the Australian National University and the Lowy Institute.

In summary, the Pacific engagement visa is a revolutionary change to our permanent migration system. Over time, it will strengthen our links with the Pacific family and deepen our ties to the region that's our home and critical to our future. Boosting Pacific permanent migration to Australia is an essential part of the government's plan to build a stronger Pacific family. This is necessary, and those who stand in opposition to this stand in opposition to Australia's engagement in the Pacific. They are undermining our position and continuing the incompetence that they showed when they were in government. That's why they need to change their position, and that's why I commend these bills to the chamber.

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