Boost urged for Pacific workers

THE government has been urged to boost the low number of guest workers from the Pacific.

THE government has been urged by one of Australia's top development experts to boost the low number of guest workers from the Pacific.

Stephen Howes, director of the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University, said Foreign Minister Julie Bishop "seems ideally placed" to be a champion for the Pacific Seasonal Worker Program, which she had previously sought to strengthen.

It was unclear where the aid program axe would fall, he said, "but the Pacific islands can at least take comfort in the possibility of their remittance base expanding under the Coalition".

In an article written with research officer Jesse Doyle, Professor Howes said Australia should start catching up with New Zealand, which took on 7456 workers last financial year compared with Australia's 1473.

Almost all of them work in horticulture - with 82 per cent of the workers in Australia coming from Tonga.

Professor Howes and Ms Doyle say that "the horticultural industry in New Zealand has less illegal labour, is better organised, and is easier to regulate, since it is more compact". It produces largely for export, while the Australian industry is mostly domestically focused.

The minimum wage for fruit picking in New Zealand is $NZ13 ($11.55) per hour, whereas in Australia it is $18 - 57 per cent higher. "The higher legal minimum wage increases the incentives to employ illegal labour, and the more dispersed area makes it harder to enforce compliance," the article says.

The experts urge the government to consider removing the incentive for backpackers to pick fruit. After three months' agricultural work, they are able to extend their visas for a year.

Professor Howes and Ms Doyle want the "specified work" list removed, so any work in regional Australia qualifies for a visa extension.

They propose a clampdown on illegal workers, with the Immigration Department estimating the numbers at 60,900: "The government has harsh penalties, but seems to lack the capacity to carry out its directive."

They say the employers should be able to recoup the full cost of airfares and internal transfer costs in bringing the Pacific workers to their properties - while in return the workers should be given more freedom to shift between employers.

The numbers involved in the scheme "are a drop in the ocean given the size of Australia's horticultural industry" - and the researchers add that the cap on numbers should be removed.