Guest-workers for Australia: win-win, token gesture or moral hazard?

The announcement on 17 August of a trial guest-worker scheme, under which unskilled workers from Pacific countries will be flown in on a seasonal basis to work on selected farms and orchards, is a significant policy departure for Australia. A degree of stringency will attach to these visas that does not exist for other visa categories, including the temporary employer-sponsored 457 visa. The new program is thus clearly a guest-worker scheme in a way that the other temporary entry programs are not. The jury is still out on guest-worker programs; whether the benefits are worth the costs, risks, and unintended consequences. There has been little public consultation or debate about whether such a scheme is in the national interest. Its announcement has drawn attention to the extent of failure in the area of welfare and Indigenous policies. Copyright. Monash University and the author/s