The Vanuatuan government has launched an inquiry into its labor mobility programs, including the seasonal worker program in Australia, citing concerns about safety.
The inquiry comes after Vanuatuan seasonal workers in Australia testified in a parliamentary hearing earlier this month, saying that they had experienced bullying, exploitative working conditions, poor housing arrangements and lack of support services while under the scheme.
Australia’s Pacific labor mobility initiatives — the Seasonal Worker Programme and Pacific Labour Scheme — support Pacific and Timorese workers to take up jobs in rural and regional Australia, particularly in the agricultural sector.
There are about 4,500 Vanuatuan workers in Australia under the scheme, based on the 2019 and 2020 numbers provided by the Vanuatuan government.
One Vanuatuan said that while working on the scheme he received just US$100 a week and had US$30 a week deducted from that amount, with no explanation of why, which led to Australian Senator Matt Canavan calling the scheme “tantamount to slavery.”
Others, such as Stephen Howes, a professor of economics and director of the Development Policy Centre at the Crawford School of Public Policy, have defended the scheme, saying that it provides huge economic benefit to individuals and communities in the Pacific, that there are safeguards in place to protect workers from abuse and that research shows there is less exploitation of workers in the Seasonal Worker Programme than of backpackers working in agricultural jobs under another scheme.
Vanuatuan opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu of the Land and Justice Party wrote on Twitter that he had “urged our government to seek to revise the agreements between the Vanuatu and Australian governments” concerning the schemes.
“Vanuatu Government has its duty to safeguard its citizens,” he wrote.
“There have been issues regarding the safety of our workers, and this is one of the issues that will be addressed in the inquiry,” said Jason Daniels, secretary to the Vanuatuan parliament’s committee on economics and foreign policy.
Daniels said that the inquiry was not set up because of the testimony given in Australia about the program, but that testimony would be considered, along with other submissions made to the committee.
“One of the challenges that the committee is looking into is the cost of applying for the program... We also want to understand the benefits to Australia and New Zealand compared to benefits to Vanuatu and how we can address this,” he said.
In addition to the call for submissions, the parliamentary committee also plans to visit the outer islands of Vanuatu to speak to families and people impacted by the scheme.
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