By Michael Rose

In the 18 months I have been writing about labour migration from Timor-Leste to Australia a constantly recurring theme has been the popularity of the idea. There are two main channels through which Timorese can access work in Australia – the Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) and the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) – and applicants outnumber opportunities many times over.

Scenes that ensued at the recent SWP physical exams, when a crowd of tired applicants expressed their frustration at how the process was being run, speaks poignantly to the unmet demand for work in the outside world (rai liur) and how emotions among those seeking it can run high.

Timor-Leste’s post-war generation are, by comparison with their parents, healthy, educated and multilingual. They are dedicated to supporting their families, but also (much like young people the world over) hungry to experience and learn from life in foreign lands.

Although their nation is tiny, Australia’s critical relationship with Indonesia runs through it, and for that reason alone we need to take their aspirations to work here seriously. Doing so will smooth some troubled history and likely establish Australia as Timor-Leste’s closest foreign partner. Should this be too much trouble for Canberra, it is a role others will gladly take.

The demographics of the fracas at the SWP physical are stark. Timor-Leste’s median age is 17.4 years. According to the UNDP, each year around 20,000 young people come of age and compete for no more than 2,000 new positions in the formal economy. I’d be amazed if it’s even that. Officially, youth unemployment is only around ten per cent, but for the majority scraping by, the line between being in work and out of it isn’t clear. The exact figures differ slightly depending on where you look, but the nature and scale of the problem is not in doubt.

The sad thing is that it didn’t have to be this way. Timor-Leste was never going to be Singapore (not that it wanted to), but it might have been Fiji – that is to say associated with the word ‘holiday’ rather than sitting just above Chad in the Global Hunger Index. A decade of oil and gas extraction could have funded the foundations of a diversified economy, but it didn’t. Tourism, agriculture, light manufacturing, coffee, all had potential, and all have fizzled.

This is absolutely not to say that Timor-Leste doesn’t have visionaries who could turn this around. However, while they wait for an end to the gerontocracy and political drama, others have sought their own way of engaging with the outside world – labour migration.

Most notably, this has involved travelling to the United Kingdom using the Portuguese passports to which they are entitled. McWilliam (2020) estimates there could be as many as 16,000 Timorese there. Pre-pandemic 2,500 were doing three-year stints as guest (EPS) workers in Korea. But the maximum number in Australia has never gone much above 1,250.

Given Australia’s history with and proximity to Timor-Leste, our paltry third place on this list stands out. We know that tens of thousands of Timorese are waiting for a chance to work in Australia. We know that rural Australia is crying out for people who will staff their food processing plants, or better yet staff them and settle with their families. We know, from the success of their diaspora in the United Kingdom, that Timorese workers are up to the job.

Given that managed, regional, labour migration has proved a success so far, letting temporary workers settle permanently when there is an ongoing demand for their labour makes sense.

How? Well, the good news is that a potential feeder program is already in place, the PLS.

As I’ve described previously, around 50 Timorese meatworkers are already settled in Warrnambool in Victoria. Under the present PLS rules their stay is limited to three years and they cannot bring their loved ones with them. I am in constant touch with this community and am confident in saying that, given the chance, many would consider staying and sending for their families.

Those who do so will be, in all seriousness, premium migrants – people with essential skills, a passion for Australian life and (they frequently tell me) happy living in a beautiful town by the beach. Their employers, likewise, are keen not to lose experienced and reliable staff who want to be there. Finding a way to make permanent settlement a possibility would be an easy win.

Such a development would clearly be great for regional Australia, but what would it mean for Timor-Leste? The best ethnographic research we have so far is that Timorese abroad, even when they settle more or less permanently, remain engaged with their homeland. The story of a new Timorese diaspora in Australia would, thus, be one of a country expanded, not reduced.

Moreover, as significant as such an innovation would be as a direct source of work for Timor’s joven (youth), it would feed into the bustling informal economy of vendors, students, swidden gardeners and care givers – that is how most of its people live. A Timorese family tree with roots in Australia will be stronger not weaker.

Nearly twenty years after the restoration of its independence, the continued stability of Timor-Leste depends on finding a way to harness the energy and ambition of its young. Whether considered from a strategic, moral or economic perspective, the case for Australia opening the door wider for them to work and potentially settle here is a strong one, worthy both on its own and as a model for our Step-Up in the Pacific. Moving in this direction will make both countries stronger; let’s not allow this opportunity to go to waste.

This article appeared first on Devpolicy Blog (devpolicy.org), from the Development Policy Centre at The Australian National University.

Dr Mike Rose is a Research Fellow at the Development Policy Centre. 

Ambassador Kathleen Fitzpatrick’s Remarks

Basic Online Fact-Checking and Verification Training

Tuesday, October 13, 2020.

My Respects to

  • State Secretary for Social Communication, Mericio Akara
  • President of Timor-Leste Press Union (TLPU), Manuel Pinto
  • TLPU Vice-President, Raimundos Oki
  • Timor-Leste Press Union Secretary General Horacio Babo

Good morning and thank you all for taking part in this very important program for journalists on basic online fact checking and verification. The U.S. Embassy is proud to provide funding for this and other programs that support the development of Timor-Leste’s journalists.

Thank you to the Timor-Leste Press Union for organizing this training, particularly Raimundos Oki and Timor-Leste Press Union Secretary General Horacio Babo.

Also, I congratulate the students and journalists who are participating today in this training.

My team and I at the U.S. Embassy in Timor-Leste have profound respect for journalists and the work that they do to inform citizens about events and issues that affect their lives, society, economy and government. I would like to congratulate this group on your continued work to increase Timor-Leste’s internationally recognized World Press Freedom Index.

In a democratic society like Timor-Leste and the United States, journalists provide the insights citizens need to govern themselves and to vote for their interests. During times of difficulty, such as COVID-19, you journalists even in free societies are on the front lines, taking risks every day.

In societies that are not free, journalists risk their lives every day to tell the truth.

That is why the US Embassy works so closely and diligently with our Timorese counterparts to address the challenges journalists face and advance the goals that both Americans and Timorese share. We are working to strengthen the professionalism of journalists and their ability to check their stories and verify facts through various sources. And we work every day around the world to ensure freedom of expression, which is the hallmark of democratic societies.

Last week we inaugurated a workshop on countering “fake news.” It is indeed important to be able to combat hoaxes and fake news through rigorous journalist standards before stories are posted are printed. It is equally important that journalists know the difference between fake news and news that is difficult or challenging to people. Sometimes the truth is difficult.

So this program is one of the many initiatives supported by the U.S. Embassy that builds the skills of local leaders like yourselves.

This training recognizes that technological advancements have brought profound changes to the way we all work and live. We have access to more information than ever before, and information can spread around the world in an instant. The abundance of information available online has led to many improvements in people’s lives around the world.

But we have also discovered that incorrect information can spread more quickly and more widely than ever before. Misinformation can create conflict, risk people’s health and destabilize democracies. In the United States and many other democratic countries we are particularly concerned about the evolving threat of state-sponsored malicious disinformation and interference in democratic processes.

People in our democracies depend on fact-based journalism and accurate information to make decisions about their future through voting and other democratic mechanisms. This is a challenge that Americans and Timorese share, and that is why we are supporting programs that strengthen local defenders of both accurate information and press freedoms.

The idea for this program began several years ago. The US Embassy selected and sponsored Raimundos Oki take part in a Google News Lab program.

During the training he learned new techniques and technologies that are helping journalists around the world detect false information and verify correct information. U.S. companies like Google are working both in the United States and around the world to find solutions to the problem of misinformation and disinformation. Raimundos used this knowledge to develop this program today.

It is important to note that the major technology companies developed in the United States, where we have strong legal protections of the freedom of speech and press. This value is an integral part of the internet and is essential for good journalism.

To continue to protect freedom of speech and press and counter false information, we need strong journalists and educated populations. Research has shown that during times of uncertainty, people seek simple messages and often reject alternative perspectives that threaten their existing beliefs.

Even after individuals have been informed and accept that a news story is not entirely truthful, one third will still share that story. That is why it is so important for journalists to verify information before it is published and maintain a strong code of ethics.

One of America’s most respected American journalists, Jim Lehrer, wrote a series of principles for journalism. For example, he said “I am not in the entertainment business”. Jim realized the importance of journalism goes far beyond simple entertainment.

In the United States, Timor-Leste and all democratic societies, journalists play an essential role. Good journalism gives people the information they need to make good decisions and hold their leaders accountable—which means they can work more effectively for justice and human rights and be better represented by their government.

This is why free, independent journalism is a pillar of democracy, and why the United States is proud to support journalists around the world.

Here in Timor-Leste the U.S. Embassy strives to honor the journalists who told your story and alerted the world to Timor-Leste’s courage and suffering during the Resistance.

In their spirit, we support journalism in Timor-Leste through a variety of journalism training programs such as this one today. We also support the development of English journalism skills through a scholarship in honor of Marie Colvin, the American reporter who remained in Timor-Leste in 1999 during an extremely dangerous time and got the message out to the international community.

Journalism and our information environment has changed very much since Marie Colvin was in Timor-Leste. Digital and social media are great tools for freely sharing information. But we have all seen how quickly incorrect information can now spread and create conflict in our communities.

The ability to seek and report trustworthy and fact-based journalism is more important than ever. We need strong journalists who can provide the public with accurate information and investigate issues that are important to the Timorese public.

I encourage you all to work diligently to find the truth through careful analysis and investigative reporting. A well-functioning democracy is dependent on your work in this regard and on training programs such as this.

Thank you for the important and courageous role you as journalists play in Timor-Leste. It is a big and challenging responsibility, but so vital to this young, new democracy.

Thank you

Are they helping the national economy or are just helping themselves?

It is surprising (or it is not) how the Government and Central Bank are mute in regards the draconian interests charged by local branches of foreign banks, namely, BNU/CGS, MANDIRI, BRI AND ANZ BANK, reaching 16% or more on average.

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