Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester says changes to the Pacific Australia Labor Mobility Scheme (PALM) were ‘a victory for common sense’ after months of uncertainty created by the Albanese Government.
Mr Chester said farming representative bodies, industry leaders, and Coalition MPs had all warned the Federal Government that its original proposals would have unintended consequences and undermine our relationship with Pacific countries that rely on the scheme.
The new arrangements will mean from 1 July 2024, employers of short-term workers will be required to offer 120 hours of work over four weeks rather than 30 hours each, every week, as had been planned.
“The original proposal took no account of weather delays and was completely unworkable for many farmers, and they were simply walking away from the PALM scheme,” Mr Chester said.
“PALM serves as a critical way in which Australian farmers, including Gippslanders, can gain access to workers from the Pacific Islands and Timor-Leste when employee numbers become scarce.
“The PALM scheme allows employers to hire workers from participating countries to fill roles in unskilled, low-skilled and semi-skilled positions in a rural and regional setting and nationally in the agriculture sector.
“The countries that participate in the scheme are very supportive of the program, especially where it is delivering remittances to communities where the average household incomes are much lower than they are here in Australia.
“The scheme helps fill the gaps in the regional and rural workforce and offers our employers access to reliable and productive workers who contribute to not only the economic life but to the social and cultural life of the communities in which they are hosted.”
The Albanese Government made changes to the scheme with inadequate consultation with industry leaders, and the fixed-hours requirement was illogical.
Gippsland-based AUSVEG Chair Bill Bulmer led the way and warned that growers would abandon the scheme if it became unworkable.
“We’ve had months of uncertainty because of the ‘Canberra knows best’ attitude of the Labor Party, but finally, we have reached a common sense position which will be better for workers and the agricultural sector,” Mr Chester said.
