East Timor to supply Broome workers

Western Australia’s tourism and hotel industries have strongly endorsed the federal government’s plan to extend its guest worker scheme to East Timor, which will be able to send workers to Broome for seasonal employment.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard also announced today an expansion of the Pacific Island seasonal workers scheme for farms that can't attract enough local labour.

Ms Gillard said extending the pilot scheme to Nauru, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu would give Pacific nations an important economic boost and also help Australian producers.

Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu are already part of the program.

"Under the pilot scheme, Pacific workers come to Australia for four to six months to work for horticultural enterprises who demonstrate that they cannot find enough local labour to meet their seasonal harvest needs," Ms Gillard said in a statement.

"With over 560 workers recruited so far, the pilot scheme is delivering benefits to participating Pacific countries.

"Workers remit money back home, benefiting their families and broader communities."

Ms Gillard, who has been attending the Pacific Islands Forum in New Zealand, said the pilot scheme was delivering productivity gains for the horticulture industry, particularly in regional areas where access to a reliable labour supply had been a longstanding challenge.

Horticulture industry demand for Pacific seasonal workers was increasing following the government's introduction of more flexible visa arrangements last December 2010 and as the industry recovered from severe drought and floods.

Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said the government was inviting workers from East Timor to travel to Broome for seasonal employment in the tourism sector under the banner of the Pacific seasonal workers pilot scheme.

"We know Australia's tourism industry has been struggling over a long period to find and compete for workers, particularly in regional areas," Mr Ferguson said in a statement.

"The seasonal worker scheme has been very successful in the horticulture industry so it makes sense to trial this proven approach in the tourism sector."

Mr Ferguson said the addition was a win-win as it provided workers from East Timor the opportunity to be paid to train and work in Broome for up to six months in tourism enterprises.

The tourism minister said the pilot program would build on existing close ties between Broome and East Timor generated through a successful pearl production cadetship program.

"The expansion of the pilot is an opportunity to trial the first seasonal workers scheme for the tourism sector in a regional area."

Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said the decision recognised the needs of regional tourism in the state.

“Tourism has struggled as the resource sector swallowed up staff from our hotels and resorts, especially in regional Western Australia,” Mr Hall said.

“Broome is a seasonal tourism town struggling to find staff, while nearby there are people in East Timor looking for work. This is the smart staffing solution for Broome tourism.

Mr Hall said the scheme was crucially important given Woodside Petroleum’s plans to develop a liquefied natural gas processing plant at James Price Point.

He said if the scheme was not implemented, there would not be enough workers to keep tourism going once construction kicks off.

Australian Hotels Association WA chief executive, Bradley Woods, also welcomed today’s announcement.

“It is very positive to see the federal government implementing initiatives that will assist in meeting some of the requirements of the hospitality and tourism industriesi n Western Australia,” Mr Woods said.

“We would also like to see the urgent implementation of a semi-skilled visa category for workers from developed countries such as those located within the United Kingdom, Ireland and mainland Europe.”