Solomon Islands benefit ‘significantly’ from labour scheme

Solomon Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MFAET) has acknowledged that among the most significant benefits of the PACER plus agreement to the Solomon Islands is the labour mobility scheme,

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Opinion: The Pacific Labour Scheme and the Royal Commission into Aged Care

In Suva, new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took a smiling selfie with Fijian aged care workers, who are preparing to come to Australia to look after our elderly in a new pilot program. Raising the standard of aged

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Pacific labour mobility growth: winners and losers

One of Scott Morrison’s biggest announcements from last August’s 51st Pacific Islands Forum was to double the number of Pacific workers in Australia by March 2022 to at least 25,000. The government has come close to

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New Pacific workers scheme to deal with “slave labour” conditions

Next month (April) a new scheme for Pacific Islanders to work in Australia’s agricultural industry comes into force, after parliamentary inquiries heard evidence that Pacific Islanders have been exploited and treated

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Loloma Fiji: A labour of love

The makers of the Loloma skin care range liken the experience of unboxing its product to opening a husk to find a coconut inside, with its distinctive golden ball packaging resembling its key ingredient, coconut oil. It

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Cook Is revises policies to ease labour gaps

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration rolled out changes to its immigration policies on Monday in a bid to ease labour skills shortages in the Cook Islands. Easing health checks for workers wanting to come in

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Hope on labour mobility

There’s good news for Vanuatu’s seasonal workers this week with the announcement that 170 workers will be able to go to Australia for the mango season. The workers will go to the Northern Territory in a pilot

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Fiji wants Kolkata Museum for indentured labourers

By: Anish Chand Fiji is pursuing the possibility of turning a part of the Kolkata port into a museum to remember the thousands of indentured labourers who were shipped off from there to Fiji. Fiji’s High

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Time to add value to seasonal labour scheme

One of the more significant announcements during Prime Minister John Key’s visit to three Pacific Island countries last month is that New Zealand will allow more seasonal workers from the islands to work on the

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‘We are going to do right for Samoa’ – Winston Peters on citizenship bill

A talanoa on the Samoa citizenship bill in Auckland on Friday was held against the backdrop of the passing of the Māori king, Kiingi Tuheitia, as well as the death of the RSE workers who died in a car crash on

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New EU regulations challenge Fiji’s fairtrade producers

A balancing act between global standards and local realities Fair trade practices in Fiji are under increasing scrutiny as new international regulations push producers to meet stringent environmental and human rights

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Opinion: Travel recovery in the Pacific: worrying signs

As the pandemic recedes and gradually fades from people’s memories, travel in the Pacific is rebounding. However, the Pacific’s travel recovery is highly variable. Comparing visitor arrivals in 2023 with those in

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