Campaign launched to end dubious PALM poisoning scheme

The Australian Workers’ Union, together with Approved Employers of Australia, is today launching a campaign to pressure the government to change rules that see agricultural guest workers have 35 per cent of their pension confiscated by the government upon departure.

The AWU is calling on the Minister for Superannuation, Stephen Jones, to urgently intervene and change the system that taxes PALM super workers and makes it administratively difficult for them to be paid into a Pacific bank account.

The AWU Campaign is calling on the government to make four changes to pension settings for PALM Scheme workers:

• Simplify retirement paperwork
  Simplify the process by allowing PALM employees to complete all retirement-related documentation upon arrival in Australia, reducing administrative burdens and delays in accessing your savings.
• Eliminate Australian Superannuation Payment (DASP) withdrawal taxation
  Remove the high withdrawal taxes currently imposed on PALM workers’ pensions, ensuring they can retain more of their savings for their future.
• Facilitate Portability for Home Retirement Funds
  Where possible, create options for PALM workers to transfer their retirement pensions to independent retirement funds in their home countries, helping them build long-term financial security.
• Establish Preferred Retirement Funds
  Promote Australian Super and Prime Super as preferred funds in the ALMP Guidelines to simplify access, prevent for-profit exploitation and support targeted campaigns to educate workers about their super options.

“The PALM scheme is not just about obtaining labor, it is about generating good relations with our Pacific neighbors. It is very difficult to see how the seizure of 35 per cent of workers’ pensions is sending the right message,” said AWU National Secretary Paul Farrow.

“I think it looks bad on Australia, especially given what has happened in this nation’s history, to be unjustifiably confiscating the hard-earned wages of Pacific workers. PALM officials tell us this leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth, and this is exactly the opposite of what the scheme aims to achieve.

“Dodgy employers and labor hire companies have been a real blight on the ALMP scheme during the Coalition years in government when the Nationals turned a blind eye to the abuses. Although the problems definitely persist, the Albanian Government has done a commendable job in cleaning up the mess. But this 35% over-appropriation is just a stupid own goal.

“This is honestly one of the easiest changes I can imagine. I will personally recommend to Stephen Jones that he takes this forward urgently. What reasonable person would stand in your way?

“Meanwhile, the current administrative process confuses, delays and often denies PALM workers thousands of dollars in earnings. According to a recent study, a third of all workers in the scheme simply cannot access the super they have earned.”

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