Assistant Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, Senator Nita Green: Bonjour, et merci beaucoup d’être là [Hello and thank you for being here].
It is great to be in Nouméa for my first visit to New Caledonia as Assistant Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, Tourism and Northern Australia.
Australia and New Caledonia are close neighbours and good friends. Our relationship is built on strong people-to-people links, education, tourism, trade and a shared interest in a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific. The focus of my visit is practical: how Australia can deepen links with New Caledonia, including in education and skills development, labour mobility, economic and tourism ties, and stronger regional links.
New Caledonia has an important voice in the Pacific, and Australia welcomes its deeper engagement in the region. This morning, I have had very useful discussions with High Commissioner Billant and was privileged to meet with the Customary Senate. I also toured the fisheries laboratory at the Pacific Community—doing critical work protecting one of our region's key resources. I am looking forward to meeting the President of the Government of New Caledonia and the President of the Congress. I am delighted at the prospect of hearing from New Caledonian students who have studied in Australia with the support of our Australia Awards program and are now bringing that experience home to support their communities. I will also meet Australian students here under the New Colombo Plan, which is exactly the kind of exchange that builds lasting connections between our communities.
Another important initiative bringing our communities together is labour mobility. I welcome the progress made to support New Caledonia’s entry into the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme. New Caledonia will have a gradual entry to the scheme, and the work to set up the necessary systems is underway. PALM will open up new opportunities for New Caledonians to build skills, earn income and gain experience in Australia, while helping meet workforce needs in regional Australia. Most importantly, PALM is about people—creating opportunities that benefit families, businesses and communities on both sides.
On sait que notre région est plus forte lorsque nous travaillons ensemble [We know our region is stronger when we work together].
I am very pleased to be here engaging closely with French State and New Caledonian authorities on practical cooperation that supports resilience, prosperity and stability.
Merci beaucoup, je serais heureuse de répondre à vos questions [Thanks very much — happy to take your questions].
Journalist: So about the PALM program, it was supposed to be effective from 2026. They heard about a hundred people for the pilot project by the end of 2026. Are we still talking about a hundred people for this pilot project and well, when will it start?
Green: The pilot program between Australia and New Caledonia will be for up to a hundred workers. The processes are underway right now to have the program start, but of course we are making sure we get the processes right and the commencement of the scheme will be a matter for the New Caledonian and French authorities, but we are working to assist to ensure that when the scheme does start, it's very successful.
Journalist: What are the criteria for the workers to be selected as part of the PALM program?
Green: That's a really good question. That is something that will be up to the New Caledonian government and the French authorities to determine when the process is underway to decide on the criteria and the types of industries that workers will participate in. Every country that participates in PALM has different criteria and different schemes, and they're designed to make sure that when workers arrive in Australia, that the worker's success and that they're able to return home. That is the key priority for Australia to support those workers. And we will take advice from the New Caledonian government and from French authorities about what the criteria should be.
Journalist: So there are regular signals about the lack of respect of workers' rights within PALM in the Australian media. So how is the government going to ensure that workers' rights are respected?
Green: Good question. Workers who participate in the PALM scheme have the same workers' rights and protections as any other Australian worker. It's an important part of the scheme that workers' welfare and their protection is central to the employment arrangements that they undertake. This is very important to me because these workers participate in employment close to where I live in regional Queensland, and I visit workers regularly on different sites and farms to get feedback directly from workers. We don't want to see and we won't accept any exploitation of any worker who arrives from New Caledonia.
Journalist: So this question is larger. It's about working holiday visa. So we heard recently that the government in Canberra had reinforced its regulation around working holiday visa. What will the impacts be on the region? And will that have impacts as well on the access to scholarships for the region as a result kind of an effect on that as well?
Green: The government of Australia has made some changes to working holiday visa arrangements. We've done this to manage the demand better and to make sure that it's fairer for workers who are coming here. We have introduced a ballot system so that it is fairer for workers who apply and to ensure that the reciprocal requirements for workers to work in regional Australia is complied with. We will still have thousands of working holiday visa makers come to Australia and normal processing times have been restored to allow that to happen. And we value the work that working holiday visa makers do. They contribute to regional Australia, and so we will continue to have that program. It will not affect and it's not associated with the Australian awards program and that is a different type of visa category.
Journalist: Is PACER Plus part of the discussions you will be having or you had with the French State and the President of the government?
Green: Thank you. PACER Plus is a fantastic trade agreement and we encourage all Pacific countries to participate. We think that it does have benefits for countries who would like to join, but ultimately a decision to join the PACER Plus agreement is a matter for New Caledonia and French authorities. We will be guided by the priorities of the new government and I'm looking forward to hearing what those are in my next meeting.