Islander jobs push attacked

The Australian: Islander jobs push attacked :

"Federal Opposition Pacific Islands spokesman Bob Sercombe has issued a Labor discussion paper seeking a new visa so Islanders can work on a temporary basis in Australia."

We live in the Pacific Island area and we rarely acknowledge it. When I was in Vauatu there was a map of the Pacific Island nations and it inclued NZ and not Australia. When I asked, it was because even though Australia supplies Ausaide , tourism and trade, it actually doesn't work with the people in a way they understand and appreciate. Like we had organised computers for their school (which has no windows and no anything really, but they love it) we forgot to notice they had no electrical power to the school. We have been organising wool, knitting needles and crotchet hooks, but not really anyone to show the people how to make things with wool. Not enough. Their hospital is tragic and there are some Austrlians trying to help but not enough. Considering we are developing tourism there we need to put in with that. They have basically a subsistance village life style, but we go up there and make markets for our battery free torches, diving, property and tourism and then we fail to be the big brother or sister when they have problems with econonomic issues. It could become a two way thing because they are a fantastic nation of people who can co exist really happily and well with their environment. They adapt very quickly and readily to technology but it isn't particularly their lifestyle. They live in hot , humid conditions and they live in villages. They are very close to the environment. We've gone off into suburbia and technology. Increasingly we have no idea about real animals, real plants, real trees. Our kids are on skateboards, plugged into their ipods, playing their playstations and watching TV. They do not play in nature. So as far as harvesting fruit is concerned, we have less and less access to the young folk who used to pick grapes and citrus for uni holidays, summer holidays. They find the work too hard and too exhausting. Those who have stayed on as pickers have made some very good points about the conditions. You see, we live in heated and air conditioned homes most of the time. Camping is not the preferred holiday for most of us. We don't stay out in the sun for hours like we used to. Some say we have gone soft. We have a different society now which is largely away from nature. So people who grow crops cannot access labour because people here do not want the job and find the conditions too gruelling. As I see it we need to improve the conditions - the accomodation, the pay, the structure of the work day. We could use it as a way to build relations with our Pacific friends if we cnnot get people here to do it. They should be paid a proper wage...but that needs to be dicussed because in a village you do not need that much money. They have a right to come here and earn money as we go to their countries and take advantage of cheap goods, property, markets for our skills and labour. To me it's a fair trade and could be negotiated. No sense in going up in arms because Bob Sercombe's paper is a DISCUSSION paper. No sense in having crops we cannot pick or won't pick. Some of the money earned could pay air fares if the people are going to come as regular workers on a seasonal basis. Some of the money could cover health and accomodation costs. It's not about ripping them off. But it could work well for all of us if everyone, including the Pacific Islanders, talk about it. You have to remember some Pacific Islanders would find our society very unpleasant and uncaring because it's an economy. It's not close to nature and it's fragmented. They would make themselves at home on the land but the city might distress them. I know we had tried to work with some Islanders here to share skills and the Islanders just became sadder and sadder inspite of our efforts to make them at ease during their study time here. It is not something which cannot be managed but we have to realise it's about looking at all the issues. I know people were saying the Afghanis were going really well on the fruit blocks but the government was putting them into detention because they had no papers. So then our growers were losing respected,reliable labour. It's complex, that's for sure.