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SBS Australia
4 days ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Strong demand from Tuvalu for Australian residency as visa lottery closes
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . The Neemia family moved to Queensland 25 years ago. Tupa and Lailega have raised their family in Brisbane, but Lailega says Tuvalu will always feel like home. "It's too beautiful. It's a good place to retire and what you heard from my husband, it's stress free, no time for anything, very relaxed lifestyle over there." Laleiga's husband Tupa shares the same dream. "The plan was to come and work, when the kids grow up, we'd retire in Tuvalu. But yeah, hopefully it's still there when we retire." The family is concerned about the future prospect of returning to Tuvalu because the tiny Pacific nation is being swallowed by rising oceans due to climate change. Last year, Australia and Tuvalu signed the Falepili Union - a landmark climate and security pact. "This is a groundbreaking agreement." It's opened a visa pathway to Australia for people like Laliega's family. "I am very excited. I have four sisters in Tuvalu. I'm trying got get all of them over, I just feel I would love to have a sibling, a sister, closer with me here, next to me." 280 Tuvalu citizens will be granted permanent residency each year as part of the landmark pact. Just over 5,100 [[5,157]] applications have now been made - more than half of the nation's estimated population - with the lottery having closed on the 18th of July. That's half of Tuvalu's population. Some have speculated the entire population of the Pacific Island of Tuvalu could live in Australia within forty years if demand for a new visa lottery holds - but Pacific Minister Pat Conroy says unlike a lot of permanent resident visas, Tuvalans have a lot of freedom of movement back to Tuvalu. "It is a world's first approach to a relationship between two countries. We're responding to a request from the Tuvaluan goverment for migration with dignity. And so we do envision that a fair number of Tuvalans will come to Australia out of a population of around 11,000." Tuvalu says it's keen for its citizens to have a home to come back to. This year, Labor approved a 50 year extension of the North West Shelf gas project which will emit 90 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. But Tuvalu's Climate Minister Maina Vakafua Talia has been among those asking the federal government to do more to curb emissions . "Opening and subsidising and exporting fossil fuels is immoral and unacceptable." Pat Conroy says Australia remains a conscientious neighbour, mindful of climate change. The government says there are also other considerations. Sara: "How do you explain that to Pacific leaders?" Conroy: "Well I think that instance is an example of how we do diplomacy. We seek to partner not gag, which is not a claim every other country can make." That's a not so subtle reference to China, which also offers aid, infrastructure and security partnerships. Migration pathways are seen as one area where Beijing can't compete - as Ryan Edwards from the ANU Development Policy Centre says. "Australia is just a remarkably more attractive place to live. We already do have the historical ties, we've got a vibrant diaspora, a small one - but we do have that community here. It's just very different. And so it makes a lot of sense for them to use that as the avenue for strengthening realtionships and engagement." Greater labour mobility is something Pacific leaders have long called for. The government has responded with a Pacific Engagement Visa, which also offers permanent residency. "I'm really focused on making sure those first three thousand settle visa grantees have the best possible experience of coming to Australia, and then we'll just see where the numbers go but at the moment our policy is 3,000 places a year." But the transition can be difficult - as Laleiga well knows. "As long as they're aware of what it's going to be like with the help of the people already settled here. I think they're going to be okay."
SBS Australia
5 days ago
- General
- SBS Australia
Tuvalu citizens enter Australian visa lottery as rising oceans swallow island
Tuvalu citizens enter Australian visa lottery as rising oceans swallow island Published 18 July 2025, 7:46 am The entire population of the Pacific Island of Tuvalu could live in Australia within 40 years if demand for a new visa lottery holds. 280 Tuvalu citizens will be granted permanent residency each year as part of a landmark pact. On the last count, 5,157 applications have been made - more than half of the nation's estimated population - the lottery closing today. For some, the offer is bittersweet as their island-home disappears.
