Picking fruit is not climate justice

To disrupt ongoing colonialist, racist narratives of Oceania as a source of cheap labour in which climate change is increasingly interwoven, it is necessary to firmly align Oceania workers’ rights with climate justice. Oceania workers’ crucial role in Australia’s food security is minimised when temporary labour mobility opportunities are framed as a ‘solution’ to Oceania’s complex climate change challenges. Furthermore, climate justice demands, at a minimum, greater attention to structural reform of temporary labour programs to eliminate exploitation of migrant workers. Since for many Oceania workers in Australian industries, economic benefits are accrued at significant social cost, current temporary labour mobility regimes cannot, without significant improvement, produce additional benefits needed to substantively redress climate change harm. Engaging the Tuvaluan concept of fale pili, meaning to care for your neighbour as if they were family, we consider how this concept can facilitate greater support for workers’ rights and for climate justice.