DOCUMENTS

Senator COLLINS (New South Wales—Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate) (18:29): I move: That the Senate take note of the document. The Vanuatu-Australia Nakamal Agreement is a very important one. I think we all know that the Pacific family is important to us.

We are part of the Pacific family, and it is important that we get this right. The Australian government has finally got this very important deal across the line, and I do commend them for that. We should respect the longstanding tradition of being bipartisan in the Pacific.

It is a significant agreement, and we should be stepping up our relations. But I will take the opportunity to also put on the record the coalition's track record in the Pacific, because we heard from the government this week some pretty outrageous claims, some hyperpartisan claims—quite frankly, claims that I think can damage our relationship in the Pacific. In just 18 months it could be that Labor's no longer in government and the coalition is.

If our government is going around the Pacific being salacious about the coalition, that does not help our future relations at all. So I'm going to take the opportunity to put some of our initiatives on the table. The coalition introduced the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific—one of the world's worst acronyms, AIFFP.

That is a really important financing facility for the region, with billions of dollars in grants and loans to help get important infrastructure projects off the ground. We also expanded Export Finance Australia's funding in the Pacific, another important source of funding for the region. The Seasonal Worker Program, which eventually was replaced by the PALM scheme, the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, is one of the most important pieces of foreign policy that we have in the region— Senator Cadell: It is—workers!

Senator COLLINS: workers for Australian farms, aged care, meatworks. We've got important money flowing back into the region, providing economic sustainability to many of these islands where economic diversification is a very difficult thing to achieve. Currently, we have 33,160 people employed in Australia through the PALM scheme, sending remittances home.

Let me put it into perspective for you. In a country like Tonga, at a minimum, 50 per cent of its GDP comes from money sent home from— Senator Cadell: Remittances. Senator COLLINS: remittances, from Australia, New Zealand and the US.

And who is the lead country in remittances to Tonga? Australia. Tongans in Australia send their money home.

They keep communities afloat. That money allows them to build churches, build homes, get their kids into school, take their kids to the doctor. It is an incredibly important source of income for communities and families in the Pacific, and this is something that the coalition set up.

In 2016 to 2022, we introduced the Pacific Step-up. This was a hugely significant moment in our foreign policy here in Australia in terms of our relationships in the Pacific. It launched a new chapter in relations with our Pacific family.

It provided education and employment opportunities, defence and border security measures, disaster assistance and impact mitigation infrastructure and technology. We also launched the Australia Pacific Training Coalition. We opened new diplomatic missions right across the region and have representation in every single member of the Pacific Islands Forum.

We established the Office of the Pacific within DFAT. That was a huge, momentous occasion. And we developed the Pacific Maritime Security Program.

So I'm pleased to defend the honour. The list goes on and on. I have pages and pages here.

The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Scarr ): But your time has expired. Senator COLLINS: It has expired. I'd like leave to continue my remarks.