Workers are people, not commodities | PALMed Off, Episode 2

Where do the thousands of people who have left the PALM scheme, but stayed in Australia, go? How do they survive without a valid visa and, more importantly, what does the future hold for them?

In episode two of PALMed Off, host Morgan Harrington travels to Leeton, New South Wales, a town that’s become a safe haven for some of the estimated 7,000 people who have ‘disengaged’ from the PALM scheme. We find out what leads people to make the difficult decision to walk away from their employer and speak to some of the community members trying to help them.

PALMed Off is a special four-part series of Follow the Money exploring the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, an Australian Government guestworker program that could be putting people from nine Pacific Island nations and Timor-Leste at risk of modern slavery.

The interviews for this podcast were recorded between June and August 2025.

Host: Morgan Harrington, Research Manager, The Australia Institute // @mhharrington

Interviewees: Ken Dachi (Welcoming Australia), Paul Maytom (Leeton Multicultural Support Group), Ian Bull (member of St. Peter’s Anglican congregation, Leeton), (Waskam) Emelda Davis (ASSI-Port Jackson Chair), anonymous former PALM workers

Scripting and production support: Stephen Long, Senior Fellow & Contributing Editor, the Australia Institute

Sound design and mixing: Simon Branthwaite

Show notes:

‘Towards a Fair and Sustainable PALM Scheme’, PALM position paper from the Mayoral Alliance for the Pacific, Welcoming Communities

‘Meat the Reality: Unpacking the Exploitation of PALM Scheme Workers in Australia’s Meat Industry’ by Ema Moolchand and Professor Shelley Marshall, RMIT University (February 2025)

Theme music: ‘Mumbwe’ by Tio, with thanks to the Wantok Music Foundation

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au.

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