Latest news with #PacificEngagementVisa
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Australia welcomes new residents under the new Pacific Engagement Visa
Successful applicants of the Pacific Engagement Visa, have started to settle into their new lives in Australia. The PEV grants permanent residency to citizens from the Pacific and Timor-Leste, chosen through a random ballot it's similar to the "Green Card Lottery" seen in the US. Those selected can apply for a visa, and up to 3,000 visas are available each round. Jehhand Topai and her daughter just touched down in Australia on the weekend, joining her partner, who was previously employed under the PALM scheme in regional New South Wales town, Casino. An accounting officer in PNG, she resigned from her job last October for the visa application.
ABC News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Timor president rejects pardon proposal for former priest and convicted pedophile
On the program today: Timor Leste President Jose Ramos Horta has decided against pardoning convicted former priest Richard Daschbach. There are calls for calm in Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, following the shooting of a 29-year-old woman by police officers. Outspoken, fierce and a protector of culture and a peacemaker. That's how family, friends and the people of Vanuatu are remembering the late Hilda Lini. From the ABC's archives, a 1980 interview with Hilda Lini before New Hebrides became independent from France and Britain. People at the site of a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea are calling for action one year on after more than 600 people died. Successful applicants of the Pacific Engagement Visa, have started to settle into their new lives in Australia. A new academy has just been launched by Vanuatu Cricket, with the aim of drawing in the best male and female talent and building a new generation of national team players. The Trump administration has dramatically stepped up its dispute with one of the United States' top universities, attempting to block Harvard's ability to enrol foreign students.
Perth Now
23-04-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Coalition plans Pacific labour review, unclear on aid
Major change is on the way for Pacific seasonal workers and, possibly, the government's flagship Pacific visa should Peter Dutton take office on May 3. The coalition has pledged to bring back a dedicated agriculture visa and review - and likely axe - minimum weekly hours for visiting Pacific workers. Australian Associated Press has quizzed the coalition on its regional policies, including foreign aid, the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) system and the Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV). The PEV is a lottery-style ballot offering up to 3000 permanent residency places each year. It has been incredibly popular - the first cohort has drawn over 56,000 applications. A coalition spokeswoman declined to say whether it would commit to the scheme, first promised by Labor in opposition. "The coalition will review the operation of the Pacific Engagement Visa to ensure it meets needs of employers, workers and Pacific nations," she said. On PALM, the coalition offered fulsome support, saying its importance to "thriving agriculture, meat processing, aged care, hospitality and tourism sectors cannot be overstated". When it works, the scheme is held up as a "win-win" project supporting industry and Pacific workers who send remittances to their home communities. It has also been abused by some employers, who have fallen short of pay or accommodation obligations. Labor has heavily reformed the scheme, ditching an agriculture visa, mandating Pacific workers get the same pay levels as Australians in the same job, and a minimum 30-hour work week among other changes. Nationals leader David Littleproud has previously linked the 30-hour commitment to runaway inflation. "Common sense tells you near-impossible new rules and increased costs on our farmers created by Labor will result in increased costs on food for families," he said in 2023. The coalition has pledged to review the scheme, which now includes more than 30,000 workers in 500 workplaces in every state and territory. On aid spending, the coalition is yet to detail future funding levels, fuelling suspicion of cuts. "With little promised in terms of tax hikes or expenditure cuts, foreign aid must be a tempting target," ANU Development Policy Centre director Stephen Howes said in an article on Wednesday. Mr Howes adds "it is hard to believe that aid to the Pacific would be cut" given the developing region's many needs and its strategic importance. "There is a bipartisan consensus that protects and promotes aid to the Pacific, based on the belief that aid cuts to this region could lead to greater influence for China," he said. The geopolitical contest in the Pacific is not as big an issue in 2025 as it was in 2022, when a proposed tie-up between China and Solomon Islands allowed Labor to argue the coalition had failed to engage. This time around, the coalition makes the same charge of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's administration, given China has intensified attempts to secure security ties in the region.
