Seasonal worker scheme

That’s over and above those who came to Australia under the earlier seasonal worker pilot programme, said Minister for Trade and Investment, Senator Richard Colbeck.

“We are in the process of negotiating an updated seasonal worker programme MOU with participant countries and we will sign an updated MOU with the Solomon Islands, and we're very pleased to be doing that.

Previously restricted to horticulture, aquaculture and cane farms, guest workers will now be allowed to work on cattle, sheep, grain and mixed farming enterprises.

Pacific Island and East Timorese workers can apply to work for either six or nine months, pay a flat 15 per cent tax rate and can return each year for the seasonal work.

The Weekly Times can reveal the scheme has been exploited by government-approved labour-hire companies that are paying workers as little as $1.20 an hour.

The issue came to a head on the weekend as six Fijian workers were in the process of being sent home by one labour-hire company.

A report into a pilot project involving 640 Tongan and Samoan RSE workers has found that they sent home more than 40 per cent of their take-home income between November 2014 and June 2015 –an average of between $4,600 and $5,500 (US$2,996) – US$3,583).

“Remittances have been playing an increasingly important role in reducing the scale and severity of poverty in the developing world,” says Woodhouse.

“The World Bank estimates that in 2013, remittances made up approximately 20 percent of GDP in Samoa and Tonga respectively.