Word: guesting
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...Laisenia Qarase - have been lobbying the region's wealthy states to open up their labor markets. Issuing short-term visas for unskilled workers is not a new idea. But with Australia and New Zealand seeking closer engagement in the Pacific, many of the region's respected voices feel a guest-worker scheme is ripe for a trial. "We have a lot of people looking for work, and they are not lazy," says Rick Hou, governor of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands. "Australia and New Zealand don't have enough workers to pick fruit and work on farms...
...sees it, guest workers would send remittances back to the Solomons and return home with improved skills. Well-designed temporary labor and permanent migration schemes, he argues, offer the best long-term options for poor and rich economies alike: "For one thing, Australia won't need to keep paying aid money, and it will get the benefit of the labor." At last week's Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Papua New Guinea, the 16 member states agreed to an extensive reform plan on economic integration, governance and security. But Prime Minister John Howard, reflecting longstanding opposition to guest workers, would...
...questionable. Of course there is discrimination. The skilled have a better chance than the unskilled of migrating to Australia. Those laden with assets can enter as "business migrants." Australia already allows European and American backpackers to do seasonal farm work. (Howard is on much firmer ground here; backpackers and guest workers are as different as apples and bananas.) But it is also true that Pacific Islanders are coming in greater numbers to Australia, some after a long holiday in New Zealand. While the money they wire back to the islands is no doubt welcomed by their families, these exiles...
...Despite the pleas and pressure from the other leaders, Howard did not crack. He pointed to the problems of visa overstayers and the possibility that guest workers would be seen, and treated, as second-class labor. In Europe and Canada, unscrupulous operators have exploited seasonal foreign workers. And Australia's trade unions, already under siege, would strongly resist any attempts to further erode pay and working conditions. The country still carries the baggage of the White Australia Policy and the use of kidnapped South Sea islanders as laborers in Queensland's sugar plantations. As well, Howard does not want...
...best sitcom when it returns this month. Yes, this screwball comedy about an idle-rich family has simplified its story lines so new viewers can catch up. But who cares? Crackling interplay between a top-notch ensemble, the fastest blizzard of jokes this side of The Simpsons and sly guest appearances by stars from Scott Baio to Charlize Theron-- they're all overrated. Besides, intense belly laughs can cause abdominal cramps. That's why we critics secretly watch The King of Queens instead. We trust you'll follow our lead, as always...