Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, or the PALM scheme, provides a key workforce in our Northern Territory, with almost 1,000 workers in over 30 locations, so far, in this year alone—with more expected, of course, as our mango season quickly approaches. Most of the PALM scheme workers have been from Timor-Leste, but they're also from Vanuatu. That's 30 NT employers, largely in agriculture but also in hospitality and the care sector.

Earlier in the year I attended an event at our university, Charles Darwin University, to welcome workers from Papua New Guinea. They're here in Alice Springs and Katherine to train and work in the early childhood sector, under what is a pilot with the PALM scheme. This is part of our commitment to expand and improve the PALM scheme to address more of Australia's workforce shortages, whilst also developing long-term expertise that will strengthen domestic labour markets in nations of our Pacific family. Fourteen Australian accredited educators from PNG have been employed by two approved employers—one, as I said, in Katherine and one in Alice Springs, where local educators have been a bit hard to find. This means there are more early childhood education spaces to support more Australian parents participating in the workforce.

Our government has made a substantial commitment to the PALM scheme, investing $440 million to expand and fundamentally improve its operation. This is a direct investment in the success of Australian businesses and regional economies. Since we came to office in 2022, the PALM scheme has seen remarkable growth. It has expanded from approximately 8,000 workers in March 2020 to over 31,000 workers as of June this year. That significant increase includes over 28,000 workers specifically placed in the agriculture and meat-processing sectors, demonstrating our commitment to addressing critical labour shortages in those industries.

The scheme is highly valued by Australian employers, by industry, by participating countries in the Pacific and Timor-Leste and by those who come to Australia to work. It supports the economic development of the Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste, which in October this year will become part of ASEAN. Allowing workers to take up jobs in Australia means they not only build skills but send income home to support their families and communities.

An ANU/World Bank survey of more than 2,000 Pacific workers found that 98 per cent would recommend the scheme to others—to friends, to family—and 92 per cent wanted to work under the scheme again. So, that's just eight per cent who had a go and thought it was awesome, but half of those said they would recommend it to others. But the overwhelming majority are very keen on it, indeed. On average, a PALM scheme worker can save or send home about $1,500 a month, which is often about nine to 10 times more than they would be able to earn in their home countries. That funding is vital for the families, covering the costs of food and other essentials as well as education and health. It's even used to start small businesses and build homes, directly contributing to economic growth and job creation.

We're also actively embedding skills development as a key feature of the scheme, empowering workers with new capabilities that they can take back to their own communities, fostering long-term development—and not just capacity development but capacity strengthening. The PALM scheme fundamentally strengthens Australia's diplomatic, economic and cultural ties with our Pacific family and Timor-Leste, reinforcing our shared future and responsibility in the region.

In the time remaining I want to reflect quickly on a visit I made last week to Timor-Leste, representing the Deputy Prime Minister, where I spoke with a number of members of the Timor-Leste government as well as the President of Timor-Leste. Everyone in that country has only good things to say about the PALM scheme, and they want to see it increased. They see all the benefits it brings to their country, and we're very proud to partner not only with Timor-Leste but with many of our Pacific island countries. We'll keep working on the PALM scheme to get it even better.

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