Speaking in Melbourne, the Secretary of the Pacific Council of Churches, Fei’ Tevi has called on Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s government not to force small island nations to sign up to the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations, or PACER, as a condition for being included in an unskilled worker scheme.
“We would like to see that Labor mobility will be part of relationships, that are perhaps at the margins of PACER,” he said.
While he hasn’t linked PACER to the proposed scheme, Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs Duncan Kerr has indicated his government would expect some commitment, to Australia’s development aims in the region.
“Labor mobility in the Pacific cannot be considered in isolation from other initiatives being taken bilaterally and through the Pacific Island Forum,” he said.
Rudd is expected to announce if his government will go ahead with a trial unskilled workers scheme, while attending the Forum leaders meeting on Niue in just under a fortnight.
