The following article relates to the development of a guest worker scheme for Pacific Islanders to fill job gaps in unskilled labour areas.
I think the view expressed by former Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews in his opinion piece "Nation needs guest worker explanation" (The Australian Financial Review, 30 June 2008 [1]) denies the view that to do nothing is equally as flawed as simply transporting a program from one country to this. The approach by the New Zealand Government is to do nothing more than to support local industry and business, and while there is a significant amount of engagement between the employee and the employer, and less so from authorities, the fundamentals exist. That is, a ready supply of labour, the remittance of income back to the islands with its potential positive impact on local economies and the continued success of small business.
If the Australian Government is to adopt a guest worker scheme, then it needs to improve on the New Zealand model, and one way of doing that is by having a "middle man" who assists small business with issues related to contracts and pastoral care while working with government agencies on matters to do with immigration. That said, the point everyone appears to be missing is the very real need to look at national skills reform as a priority - and that includes changing some of the entrenched views we have.
Recent Victorian government data shows that more than 1.2 million Victorians have no post-school qualifications. The figures on a national basis are even less appealing. Maybe the education revolution has less to do with technology and more to do with cross training and retraining our citizens for future workforce supply demands. Maybe the chance to act on bringing Technical and Further education and vocational education into the classrooms of our secondary schools is upon us - maybe it is time for a national workforce planning strategy and then, maybe, there will be no need for guest worker programs.
Of course, if that is the case, then what do the government and opposition intent to do when it comes to rising sea levels in the Pacific and the forced evacuation of some of our nearest and poorest neighbours? Now that will be an interesting policy the Australian people will no doubt want to see.
(first published in The Australian Financial Review [2], Page 59 Thursday 3 July 2008, Opinion / Letters)
Matthew Tukaki is Director of SansGov and leads the organizations government policy, advisory and services practice. Matthew is the former General Manager of Education at IT&T Education, former Head of the review into Knowledge and Information Management Strategies at both the Joint House Department of the Parliament of Australia and the Australian Communications Authority, former Head of Government, Knowledge Management and Education at Dattatech Samsung SDS and former Chairman of both the National Skills for Schools program and the Government Policy Advisory Panel.