Australia could include Pacific labourers in its ‘travel bubble’ as $280m aid shake-up revealed
Australia is considering allowing Pacific labourers to travel to Australia to work where possible as part of a new foreign aid “policy pivot” that includes the redirection of AU$280m (FJ$ 414.68m) from Australia’s existing aid budget.
The pivot, Partnerships for Recovery, detailing Australia’s regional and development response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been released by the foreign minister, Marise Payne, and the minister for international development and the Pacific, Alex Hawke.
The AU$280m (FJ$ 414.68m) diverted from Australia’s existing aid budget – mainly from scholarship and volunteer programmes that have been deferred for the duration of pandemic lockdowns – has now been put towards critical medical and humanitarian interventions in the region.
The new policy paper prioritises assistance for near neighbours in the Pacific, Timor-Leste and Indonesia as the places where Australia has the most extensive existing partnerships and can have the greatest impact.
“Economies, jobs, education and health systems are being disrupted,” the paper says.
“People are losing their livelihoods and being pushed into poverty. Frontline health workers ... are getting sick and dying before their time. The elderly, poor and other vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected.”
“How our neighbourhood emerges from this crisis will determine
Australia’s economic and strategic circumstances for decades to come.”
TRANS-TASMAN ‘BUBBLE’
Australia and New Zealand have already flagged a Trans-Tasman ‘bubble’ opening up their borders to each other only. An expert panel working on the proposal says it will be ready to present to both governments by early June and could be in operation by September.
Fiji and Vanuatu, two countries in the Pacific hugely dependent on tourism, have already expressed an interest in being allowed into a larger Trans-Pacific bubble.
The Pacific, as a region, has had very low numbers of COVID-19 infections, leveraging the region’s geographic isolation through the strict enforcement of border closures.
But there are significant fears if the virus were to gain a significant foothold in the region – it could devastate island communities, which have limited public health infrastructure, and populations with high rates of comorbidities.
Australia is seeking to help build island nations’ capacity to contact trace and to implement quarantine procedures.
“As economies open and movement becomes easier, we will continue to foster closer economic integration with Australia,” DFAT’s policy paper argues.
“This will be a critical factor in the economic recovery and longerterm resilience of the Pacific and Timor-Leste.
“We will explore options to allow more Pacific workers to travel to Australia and to open further transport and tourism corridors to the region, while ensuring that appropriate safeguards remain in place.”
New Zealand will be the first country inside Australia’s bubble, and any later Pacific expansion will be dictated by the pandemic’s spread throughout the region and the public health capacity of Pacific nations. There is ongoing concern, too, about Indonesia’s porous border with PNG.
Australia has issued 2000 visas to allow workers in Australia under the Pacific Labour Scheme and Seasonal Worker Programme to remain in the country for up to 12 months.
It is also considering allowing one-way travel from some Pacific islands to Australia, for workers where there is a clear demand for their labour.
Remittances are a powerful economic development tool for families and communities across the Pacific, and there is an emphasis across the region on re-starting economies while keeping the pandemic suppressed.
Australia’s agriculture and horticulture sectors are deeply reliant on foreign workers, and there are concerns from farm groups that an extended international travel ban could leave them short of labour.