CANBERRA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- A labour scheme at the heart of Australia's step-up in the Pacific has recruited only 10 percent of the workers the government expected.
According to data from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) only 203 visas have been issued under the scheme, which the government limited to 2,000 places, in its first year.
It was established by the government to establish greater ties between Australia and its neighbours in the Pacific.
The program was initially targeted at workers from only six island nations in the Pacific but was uncapped and expanded to all nations in the region ahead of the APEC conference in Papua New Guinea in November last year.
Only 12 of the 50 employers who have been approved to take part in the scheme have had workers take up positions.
Despite the data, Foreign Minister Marise Payne told News Corp Australia that the scheme has been "enthusiastically received" by the Pacific nations.
"Since commencing, we have put in place a memorandum of understanding with 10 countries and recast the Australia Pacific Training Coalition to ensure Pacific workers are well connected to the opportunities the Pacific Labour Scheme represents," she said.
"We are confident the Pacific Labour Scheme will continue to grow substantially and deliver outcomes for Pacific participants, their home economies and communities and for rural and regional Australia."
However, Pat Conroy, the Pacific spokesperson for the opposition Australian Labor Party, said that the scheme has been a failure.
"It is a disgrace that the scheme has only delivered 10 percent of the visas projected to have been granted in the first year," he said.
