Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Australia's Engagement in the Pacific) Bill 2023. I'll start by saying that we on the government benches are proud of our strong, diverse, multicultural society. In this country, we're proud to always stand up for our multicultural communities, we're proud that we are stepping up our relationship with the Pacific and that that was a key commitment from this government, and we're proud that we're delivering on that commitment in spades—because our Pacific neighbours are family. We share a long history. We share common values and close cultural ties. We know that there is a strong Pacific diaspora here in Australia, and Pacific workers provide vital support to regional industry and the Australian economy.

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility, or PALM, scheme grows the relationship between Australia and Pacific nations. It allows thousands of Pacific workers to come to Australia to earn decent incomes and acquire new skills. The program is supported by unions and employers alike for having strong labour protections which significantly reduce the chances of exploitation that we know can unfortunately be so prevalent in temporary migration schemes. These workers provide vital support to our regional industries, both in farming and in our care economy, and in other settings as well. PALM allows Pacific and Timor-Leste workers to come to Australia for up to four years as temporary migrants. These workers provide crucial support to our economy, and the money that they send home supports their economies and their families.

But the nature of the program means that many workers end up separated from their families for long periods of time. That's why we're starting a new family accompaniment program that allows workers on one-to-four-year placements to bring their immediate families to Australia. It will start with a trial of 200 families, ensuring that, while workers are contributing to Australia and upskilling, they're not also feeling the strain of being apart from those they love.

Nai Misipeka's husband, John, is one of the around 40,000 Pacific nationals working in Australia under the PALM scheme. Nai lives in Fiji with their five children. John is working to send money home to the family, which mostly goes to putting food on the table. Nai says that the money is good, but the most important thing to them is their children. She wants the family to be able to go to Australia and be with John while he's working, to support him while he works for the next three years and then to return to Fiji afterwards. This pilot is about families like Nai and John's being together while participating in PALM.

Last year, I had the opportunity to travel to Fiji with a cross-party delegation with an aim to better understand our place in the Pacific family. As part of that, I met with some of the amazing Fijian women who were training to work in aged care in Australia through the PALM scheme. They were training to work in regional Queensland, supporting the community and looking after our elders. This pilot is the first step towards workers like these being able to bring their families here—a step that can mean that, while they're here, caring for our loved ones, they can be supported by their loved ones too.

We know allowing workers to bring their immediate families over means that we need to extend certain social benefits. This bill allows PALM workers in the pilot to access family tax benefits parts A and B and the childcare subsidy. This will help PALM workers with the costs of raising a family. Importantly, it will make it easier for their spouses to participate in the workforce, if they choose to, by accessing early learning. It's about ensuring that workers in this mutually beneficial scheme are supported by strong labour standards and have the opportunity to live and work here with their families by their sides. Doing this provides a reliable, skilled workforce for the agricultural and care sectors, which desperately need support. This bill also supports the government's new Pacific engagement visa, which allows up to 3,000 nationals of Pacific countries and Timor-Leste to come to Australia as permanent migrants each year. We know the success of this initiative will depend on a positive experience for these visa holders. That's why this bill will provide access to family benefits and support for education and training. These measures will provide Pacific engagement visa holders with the economic security they need to be able to thrive in Australia.

We know that Pacific and Timor-Leste workers provide an absolutely invaluable contribution to our nation. While they are earning and learning key skills to take home, they are providing much-needed labour to fill shortages in our agricultural and care economies. That's why we are ensuring that they don't have to suffer painful separation from their families and that they have the appropriate social supports needed while they're here. We will proudly continue to support these workers, we'll proudly continue to step up our relationship, and we'll proudly stand side by side with the Pacific region.