INVISIBLE ISLANDERS: PRECARIOUS WORK AND PACIFIC SETTLERS IN RURAL AUSTRALIA

Authors

Makiko Nishitani, La Trobe University
Helen Lee, La Trobe University

Abstract

A growing number of studies have focused on precarious employment in relation to temporary and illegal immigration status. However, few have examined if this precarity is resolved once migrants acquire permanent residency. This article explores the work experiences of Pacific Islander settlers in rural Australia who either overstayed their visas or had temporary visas and later acquired Australian residency. These Pacific people are employed primarily in seasonal labor and find it difficult to gain more secure employment outside the horticultural sector. Even members of the second generation tend to work as casual laborers on farms. The difficulties migrants face in acquiring more stable jobs and their concerns about their children’s futures demonstrate the ongoing impacts of initial immigration statuses. We argue that Pacific settlers are “invisible” in ways that exacerbate their precarious situation and that they have been largely neglected in rural migration studies and policymaking in rural areas.

Recommended Citation

Nishitani, Makiko and Lee, Helen (2017) "INVISIBLE ISLANDERS: PRECARIOUS WORK AND PACIFIC SETTLERS IN RURAL AUSTRALIA," Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 40: No. 3, Article 5.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol40/iss3/5