Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I want to make a brief contribution in committee in relation to this, which is the delivery of an election commitment of the Albanese government to a Pacific engagement visa, to allow up to 3,000 nationals from Pacific countries and Timor-Leste to come to Australia as permanent migrants each year. This will grow the Pacific and Timor-Leste diaspora in Australia and will further strengthen our people-to-people connections across the Pacific family, encouraging greater cultural, business and educational exchange.

Colleagues, you don't have to look very far to see the valuable contributions that Pacific peoples have made to this country, as community and faith leaders, as successful businesspeople, as artists and, of course, on the rugby field. We want to strengthen and grow these communities here and across the region. This visa will ensure more of our closest neighbours can call Australia home. It will create new opportunities for the people of the Pacific and Timor-Leste to live, work and be educated in Australia—deepening our bonds and enriching our communities.

I said in a speech to the National Press Club earlier this year that we made a clear decision to focus on repairing and rebuilding our relationships with the countries of the Pacific as soon as we came into government because we see the Pacific as family, because of the shortcomings of the previous government that we needed to remedy and because of who we are as a Labor government. We spent the last 17 months travelling to the Pacific, listening to the Pacific and acting together to build a region where we determine our own destiny. As the Minister for Foreign Affairs, I've had the privilege of visiting every Pacific Islands Forum member and attending two PIF leaders summits. We've heard the calls for better integration and access to our labour markets through a dedicated migration intake. We've consulted with Pacific partners on the design and implementation of this scheme, and we are pleased the scheme has been welcomed by governments across the region. The bills are a first step to deliver this important visa.

As has been discussed during second reading speeches, there will be a two-stage process to apply for this visa. These bills enable the administration of this visa through an initial ballot process. In the first stage, interested persons will register in a ballot. The ballot will then randomly select people to proceed to the second stage of applying for a visa, so it is a demand management mechanism. The ballot will only serve as an invitation to apply for the visa. To be granted a visa, applicants will need to meet eligibility criteria—a job offer in Australia, and English language, health and character requirements. The ballot will be open to eligible nationals of participating countries and Timor-Leste, including Pacific nationals already here in Australia on a valid temporary visa, such as those working on the PALM scheme. A ballot system will ensure equal and transparent access to the visa pathway. We know that demand for this visa is expected to exceed the number of visas available by a very large margin. That's why the ballot system is the best way to manage the application process and to guarantee equitable access for people to apply, regardless of skill level. The use of a ballot is based on Pacific migration schemes that have operated successfully in New Zealand for decades. The United States also uses a ballot process for its green card migration scheme.

This process will also help avoid some of the brain drain concerns that so many Pacific governments hold, and it is the basis on which Pacific partners have said they will participate in the scheme. The Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji, the Hon. Biman Prasad, said recently:

It seems that the proposed lottery mechanism has become the sticking point in Australia. However, this is the mechanism used by New Zealand and widely accepted in the Pacific as fair. Any other approach used by Australia would raise suspicion in the region.

The ballot will also reduce the processing time and cost to applicants.

There have been some valid questions raised about why we can't simply give engagement visas to current PALM workers. PALM workers make an immense contribution to the agricultural and services sectors, filling labour shortages and providing vital incomes back home. We have delivered the most PALM workers in the scheme's history, with nearly 38,000 workers currently living and working in Australia on a temporary basis. But it is important to note that we have agreements with Pacific governments, who have signed up to this scheme on the basis that it is temporary. These workers come to Australia to generate skills and income, and, crucially, they return home. Simply converting PALM workers to Pacific engagement visas, as the Liberals and Nationals insist, would pull the rug out from under our Pacific partners. It also demonstrates they've learnt nothing from their failures in government about listening to the Pacific. It would increase brain drain and skew the spread of engagement visa holders to those countries that participate in PALM, instead of the broader Pacific family.

These are serious policy considerations, and I wish to thank those on the crossbench in this place who have engaged in this discussion thoughtfully and constructively. I wish that the opposition had done so. It is very disappointing that on this issue those opposite have refused to support it. It is consistent with nine long years of disrespect to the Pacific family. Who can forget Mr Dutton joking about water lapping at the door? In government, those opposite dropped the ball in the Pacific and failed to ensure Australian remained a partner of choice. They know that competition in the region intensifies and they know that, as that competition intensifies, our natural advantages lie in our people and our communities, in access to the Australian labour market and in stronger cultural and business connections. Yet, they still refuse to listen—to listen to the Pacific family and to the national interest imperatives. And what beggars belief is they say it's because they don't like ballots but it was actually their idea.

Last year, a Liberal chaired committee recommended a dedicated Pacific migration intake modelled on the New Zealand ballot. Senator Fawcett was on this committee. They recommended a ballot in government, and now they're saying no in opposition. Even when it comes to our abiding national interests, like strengthening Australia's relationship with the Pacific, even when Australia's interests are being challenged by others, those opposite are putting politics first. When this is an important issue to promote unity for the national interest, they promote mistrust to serve their own political interest. It is Mr Dutton's game plan. If those opposite were serious about ensuring Australia remains the partner of choice in a more contested region, then they would stop playing politics.

The countries of the region are navigating the twin challenges of the climate crisis and escalating strategic competition, all while grappling with the economic aftershocks of the pandemic. It has never been more important for Australia to build a peaceful, stable and prosperous region and to do so with others, a region where the forum family is responsible for our collective security and is equipped to face our shared challenges together. This is only becoming more challenging, especially when countries seek to undermine this regional approach.

Colleagues, we know things will not go back to how they were before. We should expect Australia's regional interests to continue being challenged for years to come. We know that as a result of the previous government's approach Australia lost a decade in the Pacific. We know that the opportunity to be the only partner of choice has been lost by the previous government.

Now, our priority must be to remain a partner of choice. That means we have to work harder than ever, and it should be a national effort. I call on the opposition to put politics aside and be part of that effort. In delivering this new visa, we want to make a uniquely Australian contribution to building a stronger and more united Pacific family. We can't achieve the future we want alone, and neither can other members of the family. All of us are counting on each other because we share an ocean and we share a future.

The Pacific engagement visa will expand and strengthen the diaspora communities that call Australia home. It will contribute to the economic development of our partners through enhanced remittances and more opportunities for skills exchange and investment, and Australia, as a nation, will be stronger for it.

I thank, again, the Greens and the independent members of the crossbench for the mature and constructive way they have engaged on this issue, and I regret that the alternative government did not have the maturity to do so.