In 2024-25 Palm workers remitted A$450m to their home countries, an average of $1,500 each per person per month. The money bought food, paid school fees, upgraded housing and financed small enterprises.
Benefits flow beyond immediate families. After working in an Australian abattoir, Devid John Suma returned to Vanuatu and invested $30,000 to supply clean drinking water to his remote village.
The second win is for Australia’s economy. Palm workers make a significant contribution to regional businesses that struggle to attract local workers, from farms to abattoirs.
The third win is that Palm advances Australia’s strategic interests, not least by providing a counter to China’s wooing of Pacific nations.
Pacific leaders might wish for more aid from Canberra and be frustrated by the government’s tepid action on climate change. But well-paid work is something Australia offers that China does not.