Remittances keep post-disaster economies afloat

24 Dec 2012, 12:22 pm   -   Source: Jeannette Francis, SBS
Share This
0 
+ Comment
0

As clean-up from Cyclone Evan continues in Samoa and Fiji, millions of dollars in international aid has been donated by Australia and New Zealand. But money is also coming from another source: remittances.

RELATED

The clean-up from Cyclone Evan continues in Samoa and Fiji.

Millions of dollars in international aid has been donated by Australia and New Zealand.  

But money is also coming from another source: remittances.

Pacific Islanders in Australia remit the highest percentages of their incomes back home.

And experts say it's keeping many of the Pacific economies afloat.

One victim of the cyclone, resident Ram Reddy inspects the damage caused by Cyclone Evan.

Falling trees destroyed power lines and damaged his home.   

He says the bill is close to two thousand dollars. 

"I haven't got any income coming, just only driving a taxi. $80 a week that's all," says Mr Reddy.

Mr Reddy has one other source of income - his family in Australia.

He says in times like this he relies on his mother and sister in Brisbane to send him money for repairs. 

"If my family is going to support me, then I can use that money. If not support me then i leave it like that."

Remittances are the second-largest foreign exchange earner for Fiji after tourism.

"Fiji in the last ten years they've become absolutely vital, they amount to something like 300 million dollars per year at the moment," said Fiji economist Waden Narsey.

Since the 2006 coup, Fiji's relationship with its largest neighbour, Australia, has been strained. 

But Mr Narsey hopes it will have improved when Fiji holds its first democratic election in 2014.   

Calm may have returned these shore for now but Fiji is in the midst of constitutional reform and no doubt the election will have a key impact on Fijians both here and in Australia.

Fiji has the highest number of emigrants to Australia from the Pacific Islands.

But it's excluded from remittance schemes such as the Seasonal Worker Program.

Papua New Guineans and Samoans also emigrate in large numbers.

Jerry Uesele and his wife are Samoan-Australians.

In addition to holiday presents, they also send money home.

"We know that people are gonna get married or it's the funeral," said Sita Uesele. "We get the phone call so we always help, yeah Facebook. Now it's Facebook."

Their small business doubles up as a money transfer outlet that services the Samoan community. 

"We invest in our families and not in the banks. You hardly hear of any Samoan millionaires in this world." said Jerry Uesele.

Experts say those family investments contribute significantly to the national economies of the Pacific. 

"In Samoa, remittances are the single most important source of external income, much more important than any small amount of agricultural exports, much more important than the rather small tourism industry," said John Connell from the University of Sydney.

Younger Pacific islanders are also likely to remit albeit less than their parents. 

The key - says Mr Uesele - is to pass down a strong family connection to the next generation.

Pacific Islands , Cyclone Evan

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.