The regional visa dilemma facing Pauline Hanson
Pauline Hanson’s biggest problem is that regional Australia is tied to immigration, which it opposes Doctor Abul Rizvi.
THE LAST Over more than 30 years successive governments have developed a raft of visa regulations to help employers in regional and remote Australia access labor from overseas. Considering regional and remote Australia, it is also Pauline HansonDepending on his voting base, will he demand that these visa regulations be abolished or maintained?
On average, regional and remote Australia is significantly older than the capital cities. At the end of June 2024, Australia’s regional average age was 42, compared to 36.9 for capital cities combined. People aged 20 to 44 made up 38% of the total capital city population, compared with 30% of the population in the rest of Australia. People aged 55 and over make up a smaller proportion of the population in capital cities (26%) than in the rest of Australia (34%).
The median age is 42 and rising, together with a very low fertility rate, meaning deaths are already exceeding births in many regional and remote towns. As young Australians continue to move from many regional towns to cities, migration is often the only way these towns can survive, let alone have enough health and aged care workers to care for older people. Would Hanson’s supporters rather their town not survive than rely on immigrants?
Hanson has repeatedly said he would reduce overall immigration to Australia, but even after this interview with Hanson’s Chief of Staff James Ashby, it remains unclear to what level and how. But let’s assume he will cut, if not eliminate, all regional visa regulations to please his supporters.
What regional visa regulations can it target?
Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMAs)
According to DHA:
DAMA master agreements are between the Australian Government and the Appointed Regional Representative (usually state or territory governments or regional organizations such as Chambers of Commerce, Australian Regional Development offices or local government councils). It includes agreed terms and concessions regarding skilled visa eligibility criteria, as well as various occupations, as negotiated between the parties. Once a DAMA charter is established, businesses in the area can request individual DAMA employment contracts under the terms of the charter and available concessions.
There are currently 13 DAMAs covering regional SA, East Kimberley, NT, Orana NSW, Townsville, Goldfields WA and Far North Queensland.
Hanson would argue for the abolition of all these, and employers in these areas could rely on standard arrangements for employer-sponsored entry (to the extent they survive in the Hanson Government).
Skilled Work Regional (Temporary) Visa
This visa is part of the official immigration program. Allows you to stay in Australia for up to five years; and apply for permanent residence after 3 years of living in a specific regional area, provided basic conditions are met.
To obtain the temporary visa, the applicant must:
- you must be nominated to apply by a state or territory government authority or be sponsored by an eligible relative;
- Having a relevant profession list of skilled occupations;
- have a suitable place skill assessment for profession;
- being invited to apply; And
- Pass the score test.
Each year, each state/territory government is allocated a limited number of candidates they can make. In 2025-26 these allocations were significantly reduced, leading to strong complaints, including the WA Premier writing an open letter of complaint to the Prime Minister. The top five professions in this category in 2024-25 were accountants; software and application programmers; industrial, mechanical and production engineers; chefs and civil engineers.
Removing this category would attract the ire of state/territory governments, regional employers and industry bodies, but that may not be an issue for Hanson.
Working holidaymakers (WHMs)
Since about 2005 the policy has been to encourage WHMs to spend more time living and working in regional Australia. Many spend most of their earnings on tourist attractions, accommodation etc, often in regional Australia. spends.
WHMs have contributed significantly to net migration in recent years, so they should be the target of any Hanson immigration policy.
Removing this category would require renegotiating the relevant agreements with a large number of countries, as these agreements operate largely on a reciprocal basis (i.e. they provide opportunities for young Australians to live and work in other countries). Renegotiating these agreements will take months, if not years.
A decision to abolish these WHM agreements would face criticism from both tourism industry operators and farmers. The largest source country of these visas is England. Hanson may or may not care about that.
Pacific Australia Labor Mobility (PALM) visa
The PALM visa is largely designed to assist farmers with their labor needs. Over the past 30 years, fewer and fewer Australians have sought to provide labor on farms. Hard work in hot conditions for low pay.
Labor Party abolishes government Agriculture Visa Founded by David Littleproud. But despite all his flaws, he retained his PALM visa.
Given high rates of exploitation, death and injury, as well as concerns about workers fleeing and seeking asylum, Hanson could use these arguments to eliminate the PALM visa. As Australian farmers come to rely on this visa, there will be a strong backlash against it from farming organisations.
Reaction from Hanson supporters
Most Hanson supporters in the Australian region will probably applaud the removal of these regional visa regulations. This will be at least until we see the impact on regional businesses, economies and services such as health, aged care and education.
Doctor Abul Rizvi He is an independent Australian columnist and a former Deputy Secretary of the Immigration Service. You can follow Abul on Twitter @RizviAbul.
Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.
