You hit it on the nail....."for low pay"....America Samoa had their Daewoosa....and it failed to the point of unmasking the corruption in their government, at all levels. Training or even re-training local labor- force would have been cheaper and profitable for the community as a whole.

I wouldn't expect anything other than "Mexicanization" claims from one of Australia's more outspoken unions.

Given that the capital investment and many natural resources is centered in Australia and little short to medium term of a rush of capital or discovery of resources in the pacific islands, why not promote a scheme that provides a lucrative income stream into island economies.

I am sure that there are many horror stories to be told about the abuse of such schemes, however if Governments do not try and evolve such policies into working models, it s the island economies that will suffer more than that of Australia.

Sure, many of these jobs on offer could be taken up by Australians, but unfortunately many unemployed Australians are either too proud or lazy to take up such opportunities and prefer to sit on the dole.

The influx of such incomes into the Samoan vilages will not only provide food and the the comforts of life, but will also pay back with future generations being better educated and able to take up opportunities in all manner of international careers. Just look at the well educated indians that are prospering all over the globe.

To help stamp out the corrupt participants in these programs, expose them to the authorities rather than sit back and complain about the potential for problems.

Turn the tables and exploit these systems for the benefit of yourself, family, villiage, Samoa and the Island nations...

Kev

Rag Trade Slaver.... Kev....your sales pitch sounds too familiar.....Kil Soo Lee.....Daewoosa's factory owner. How would guest workers help the economy of Samoa or any other country when the workers send their money back to their government who sold them into an indentured slave position in the first place???

Getting a job overseas with these programs is wonderful when it comes to money and experiences. But the contract writer and worker needs to understand the job description, pay, benefits, bonus, fare, room and board, food, health & medical insurance, life insurance, visas, work schedules, shifts and treatment. Our people in Samoa pretty much have no experiences in most of the labor law and requirements in Australia and other countries. Most of the countries have two types of labor law, one that covers local workers (citizens) and the one that covers guest workers. As job seeks and agencies for job seekers, it is your job to understand the country labor law and all the requirements pertaining to the job. Read and asked questions about the fine prints that you can hardly read. Everything/agreements has to be on papers in writting with signatures or they are nothing, not binding nor leagal. We can not train our own work force in Samoa with the limited resources and business opportunites for jobs. Most of the jobs offered from other countries are the jobs their citizens refused to do due to low pay or conditions. For example: I was in Saudi Arabia, most of the guest workers there are Phillipinos doing janitoral, house keeping and other dirty jobs, so as Germany, Singabore, Japan, Korea and the list goes on. In the US the Mexican doing all the hard low paying jobs in the farms...planting and harvesting because most of the American do not want to do these kind of jobs because of the low pay and bad conditions. But all these third world countries workers do not mind the pay because it doubles or triples what they get at their home country. On the other side of the coin, the Indian guest workers in the US and other countries are business people, high tech computer specialist earning high pay jobs and well respected in these countries. The bottom line is, the education of the guest workers will determine his/her opportunities getting a better paying job with humane working conditions. Opportunities are great but play your cards righ with these big boys; they know the ins and outs of the business. They know what buttons to push and what not. They know their legal limitations when it comes to dos and don'ts...so becareful out their; it is dangerous!