Labor expands Pacific immigration with new visa legislation

Labor is claiming a major foreign policy victory after federal parliament passed legislation to deliver its Pacific Engagement Visa, opening the door to 3,000 people from the Pacific to settle permanently in Australia every year.

The federal government had been struggling to secure the numbers to pass the legislation in the Senate after the Coalition declared it would oppose the government’s proposal to select applicants for the visa using a random ballot.

But Labor yesterday struck a deal with the Greens to secure their support in exchange for the government reviewing a contentious mechanism that allows it to reject temporary visa applications for people with disabilities which carry significant costs for Australian taxpayers.

This morning, the visa legislation sailed back through the House with minor amendments, which means it will pass into law.

Pacific Affairs Minister Pat Conroy has hailed the passage as a crucial part of the Albanese government’s efforts to build a Pacific diaspora in Australia.

“This was a policy we took to the last election, and it is revolutionary in nature,” he told the ABC.

“People-to-people links are one of the critical ways we rebuild links with the Pacific and are the partner of choice.”

Shadow Pacific Minister Michael McCormack said while the Coalition backed the government’s efforts to form closer bonds with the Pacific, it remained opposed to the ballot.

“We maintain that Australian citizenship is too valuable to be decided by lottery,” he said.

“Now the bill has passed, it will be up to the government to demonstrate that the lottery mechanism and the Pacific Engagement Visa serve the interests of both Australia and participating nations, and that it has the support of Pacific nations.”

Some legal advocates have also raised concerns about the ballot mechanism.

The principal solicitor for the Immigration Advice and Rights Centre (IARC), Joshua Strutt, said while he welcomed more opportunities for Pacific migration to Australia, the ballot was a “game of chance.”

“Gamifying the migration system isn’t fair for anyone. IARC has been calling for clearer and more certain pathways to permanent residency in Australia for Pacific Island nationals,” he said.

“We have found that people put their lives on hold for years, waiting for their name to essentially be picked out of a hat. The system needs to be better. People need certainty.”

But the government maintains the ballot will ensure equitable access to Australia, and help to avoid a brain drain from the Pacific.

Professor Stephen Howes from the Australian National University said the ballot system had functioned well for a similar visa scheme in New Zealand.

“The New Zealand visa is popular and widely accepted, so it just makes eminent sense for Australia to follow the path New Zealand set,” he told the ABC.

Professor Howes said the timing of the legislation’s passage would also work well for Labor ahead of a critical Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meeting in Cook Islands in early November.

“We’re heading into the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting … and know the whole issue of visa-free access is going to be raised,” he said.

“It’s not something Australia is prepared to concede, but Australia can point to this very significant initiative as a practical way in which it’s making movement into Australia very much easier.”

Hopes to unite the region

While some Pacific nations have privately raised some concerns that the Pacific Engagement Visa could exacerbate skills shortages in the region, some high-profile Pacific politicians have enthusiastically backed the proposal.

Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad told the ABC that the visa would promote business investment between Australia and the Pacific, as well as “allowing ideas and innovation to move from one country to another.”

“In a broader sense, this is part of a broader strategy to integrate the region in the long term,” he said.

“And given the geopolitics as well, uniting the region in this way will benefit the whole of the region.”

He also dismissed anxieties about the visa feeding into a brain drain in the Pacific.

“There’s a thinking that everyone will suddenly pack their bags, but that won’t happen,” he told the ABC.

“In fact, it may create an environment where people feel the opportunity is there and there will be more stability.”

The government still wants to pass separate legislation through parliament which would give Pacific Engagement Visa holders access to additional welfare benefits.

It is vowing to open the program in the first half of next year, which will allow the first visa holders to settle in Australia later in 2024.

Pat Conroy said the federal government was still working out exactly how the 3,000 spots would be split between different Pacific countries.

“We’re working through what we disclose but I think there are strong reasons for the country allocations to be made public,” he said.

The minister said the places would be allocated “broadly but not completely” in line with the populations of various countries, and that Australia would make sure Pacific nations were “comfortable” with their allocations.

He also said some of the 13 Pacific countries eligible for the scheme might not take part until the second year.

“There are some countries which are very enthusiastic and want to be part of the early rollout, and there are others that have said they will take a step back and be part of the second year,” he said.

Professor Howes said it was a potentially transformative moment in Australia’s relationship with the Pacific.

“This is the first time we’ve had a Pacific window into not our temporary migration program, but our permanent migration program,” he told the ABC.

“It certainly puts the Pacific at a very elevated status.”