6 August 2008, University of Victoria
Victoria University Symposium on Pacific Islands Migration and Labour Mobility
Introduction
Associate Professor Ben-Moshe, Professor Babacan, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting me to join you for today's symposium. And my thanks to the Institute for Community, Ethnicity and Policy Alternatives for organising this symposium, which gives us an important opportunity to discuss Australia's relations with the countries of our Pacific neighbourhood.
I am sure that you are all aware that the Government has committed itself to 'a new era of cooperation with the island nations of the Pacific', as the Prime Minister said in his landmark Port Moresby Declaration in March this year.
It's my privilege, as Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, to be closely involved in the framing and delivery of our new policy approach.
In April this year at the 2020 summit in Canberra, Australia's relationship with its Pacific island neighbours emerged as a major theme within the group discussing "Australia's Future in the World".
That group envisaged Australia fostering comprehensive engagement in the Pacific, including by invigorating trade liberalisation and labour mobility. There was substantial and very positive debate within the group on the details of a possible labour mobility scheme and, given the expertise amongst the panellists here today, I look forward to this symposium contributing further to that debate.
You are no doubt aware that the Government is yet to announce any decision relating to a labour mobility pilot between Australia and countries of the Pacific. The Government intends to make an announcement on whether or not we will proceed with a pilot program at or before the Forum Leaders' meeting in Niue on 19-20 August.
Given that the Government's decision is yet to be announced, what I would like to do today is to generate and take part in discussion amongst panellists on the key considerations to be taken into account in any Pacific labour mobility pilot.
I will set out my own views on where labour mobility fits in with Australia's engagement in the Pacific and put forward what I consider to be some of the most important points to be deliberated in developing any labour mobility pilot for the region. But this Government is open to ideas, as we've made clear from the start, and I look forward to the ensuing discussions at today's seminar.
Labour mobility: the development context
A labour mobility pilot should not be considered a panacea for the challenges of unemployment and under-development in the Pacific.
Instead, any program to bring Pacific island workers to Australia would need to be tailored to contribute to our other efforts to find a longer-term solution to these challenges, and to the long term social needs of the contributing states.
Labour mobility in the Pacific cannot be considered in isolation from other initiatives being taken forward bilaterally and through the Pacific Island Forum. Nor can we address the possibility of any Australian labour mobility scheme for countries in the Pacific without placing it in the context of Australia's wider engagement in the region.
The Pacific Island Forum's leaders have agreed on a Pacific Plan based on the four pillars of :
- economic growth,
- sustainable development,
- good governance and
- security.
Australia fully supports the Pacific Plan and I believe our engagement with our regional neighbours, including any initiative on labour mobility, can usefully be considered in the context of this overall strategy.
For example, our development assistance to the Pacific (just under $1 billion for 2008-09) is supporting the drivers of growth - in promoting the skills, infrastructure and trade, regulatory and investment policies to support sustainable growth.
And in the spirit of a more effective, collaborative approach to developmental challenges, we will coordinate closely not only with our friends across the Tasman, but also with Japan, the United States, the European Union, and with leading international financial institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. We will also seek to engage new and emerging donors on playing a positive and constructive role in the region.
Beyond traditional development assistance, however, we believe that the more the Pacific nations are integrated with the wider global community, and the freer the flow of goods, services and investments within the Pacific, the better the prospect of genuine, stable and long-term economic growth in the region.
Progress of this kind would, we believe, be substantially boosted by taking forward negotiations for a regional free trade agreement - the so called 'PACER Plus' arrangement, as envisaged by Forum leaders.
This would build on the existing Pacific Island Countries' Trade Agreement, and the original PACER, or Pacific Agreement for Closer Economic Relations.
PACER Plus would establish a regional free trade area, within which preferential access to regional skilled labour markets - in the islands and Australia/New Zealand alike - can be regulated and protected.
To achieve this wider regional goal of a PACER Plus community, we envisage working with interested countries on a generous package of trade capacity and trade development assistance, aimed at securing new opportunities for island countries and at helping Pacific island countries to adapt to the challenges of an increasingly globalised economy.
Labour mobility pilot
I think most of the panellists speaking today will agree that there is an apparent symmetry where a potential host country experiences shortages of labour and potential source countries experience shortages of jobs.
But the apparent symmetry of that simple equation can belie the inherent complexities of any labour mobility scheme - complexities of administration, cross cultural issues, immigration arrangements, markets and economic realities.
I hope today's symposium will look at the complexities on both sides of the equation and consider how any labour mobility scheme could best address these. The challenge will be to find a regulatory framework that would allow any scheme to be both fair and efficient, and to protect the interests of those involved.
If a pilot program were to proceed, it would necessarily start as New Zealand's does, with a limited number of countries participating on a trial basis. The Government has been examining New Zealand's seasonal labour policy, the "Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme", and it is appropriate that we learn from New Zealand's knowledge and experience when thinking about a possible program in Australia.
But it is also important to note that there are significant differences between the Australian and New Zealand markets, and we can not assume that successes or failures there would be mirrored here.
Any labour mobility program has to be demand-driven. We are not contemplating a program to create artificial jobs. Any program would only work if there was real demand for real jobs, and employers came forward and contributed to the quite substantial costs of relocating temporary employees from overseas.
Progress through partnerships
The Government is determined to take Australia's relationship with our Pacific neighbours forward through strong government-to-government relationships. I am pleased to say that the Government's dedication to building these relationships has been evident in the personal commitment that Ministers - led by the Prime Minister himself - have shown in making it a priority to visit our close Pacific neighbours, including Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Kiribati and Tonga.
Visits like these - and reciprocal visits by Pacific leaders to Canberra - show how seriously we take the high-level personal relations that underpin mature bilateral relationships.
And so, at a fundamental level, does our new determination to work collaboratively with our neighbours, as equals, to realise shared governance, economic and social developmental aspirations.
This approach, with its emphasis on mutual respect, mutual responsibility and mutual commitment, underpins Australia's Pacific Partnerships for Development which were at the heart of the Prime Minister's Port Moresby Declaration on 6 March.
Through these prospective Partnerships, Australia will be prepared to make available increased development assistance to partners with a shared vision of promoting greater progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
We will look to work with partners who jointly commit to improvements across a spectrum of priority areas, including public infrastructure, governance, economic growth, education and health and human capacity building.
The holding of today's symposium reflects, I think, the recognition among participants that there are risks as well as opportunities in implementing any labour mobility scheme in the Pacific. The social and economic costs for both sending and receiving countries need to be considered carefully.
I am confident that our work to reinvigorate our relations with Pacific island states will pay dividends as our dialogue in the region moves forward.
And I know that we can rely on the expertise and commitment of specialist like yourselves as we take this work forward.
Thank you.
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