Photo Credit: MattExMachina/Flickr. Retrieved from devpolicy.org
Labor’s announcement that it would introduce a Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV) to provide Pacific Island citizens with 3,000 permanent resident visas annually has been warmly welcomed in the region. Good progress was made with the new visa, with crucial details released at the start of the year, but it is now clear that the target starting date of 1 July has been missed.
The legislation to enable the PEV passed through the House of Representatives in March, and was tabled for consideration in the Senate in June. However, it never made it to the Senate floor.
While all parties have expressed support for the PEV in principle, the sticking point has become the lottery behind the visa. Labor has modelled the PEV on equivalent New Zealand lottery-based Pacific visas (the Samoa Quota and Pacific Access Category visas). The Coalition has opposed the introduction of a lottery into Australia’s migration system, meaning that the prospects for the actual introduction of the PEV are now in the hands of the Senate crossbench.