Boost cash incentives to get Aussies picking fruit, SA farmers say

The Morrison Government is being warned using welfare cuts to push workers into the bush will backfire, and that laziness is not the root of labour shortages.

Cash incentives may need to be boosted to get more Australians to take up fruit picking jobs, farmers say.

Aussies can already apply for up to $6000 in relocation assistance to move for short-term agricultural jobs, as the Federal Government tries to tackle worker shortages during COVID-19.

Unemployed Aussies receiving JobSeeker can also earn up to $300 a fortnight without losing any of their payment.

But AUSVEG SA chief executive Jordan Brooke-Barnett said the Federal Government should consider boosting the incentives.

It comes as South Australia will next week fly about 100 seasonal workers in from Vanuatu because Australians aren’t taking on fruit picking jobs despite high unemployment rates.

Cutting JobSeeker back to pre-pandemic levels wasn’t the answer, Mr Brooke-Barnett said.

“We can’t force people to work on farms – name me one business that could survive with a workforce that didn’t want to be there,” he said.

AUSVEG SA’s Jordan Brooke-Barnett said financial incentives may need to be increased to get more Australians taking up farm jobs. Picture: Sam Wundke

Mr Brooke-Barnett said raising financial incentives may help, but acknowledged Australians generally did not consider fruit picking work in their own country.

“The deal has been Aussies go to London and work in cafes, and their backpackers come here and pick fruit,” he said.

Steven Marshall urged as many South Australians as possible to consider a job in regional SA.

“It’s a pretty tough situation at the moment, and that’s why we have supported the bringing in of the 100 workers to address the most acute shortages that we have in our state at the moment,” the Premier said.

National Farmers’ Federation chief executive Tony Mahar welcomed Aussies being able to claim up to $6000 in relocation costs, and believed the increase in the JobSeeker rate had been appropriate during COVID-19.

On JobSeeker, he said: “Going forward it is crucial the right balance is struck between supporting Australians looking for work and ensuring a job remains a more valuable proposition than Government assistance.”

SA Council of Social Service spokeswoman Catherine Earl said JobSeeker should be permanently increased by “at least $25 a day” from $40 after the coronavirus supplement ends on March 31.

“Permanently increasing JobSeeker so people can cover the basics doesn’t make people less likely to seek and find paid work,” she said.

“For horticultural, seasonal work, you may need to move away from home, but need that home to still be there for you to come back to, which is hard if you rent, while the local accommodation can be expensive,” she said.

“You likely need to be physically fit and may need a car.

“Many people on JobSeeker cannot afford to run a car. Factors like this are all part of the picture.”

The Federal Government has not confirmed what will happen to the JobSeeker rate after the temporary coronavirus supplement ends on March 31.

A spokeswoman for Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the government’s priority was to get more Australians into work though programs like JobMaker and JobTrainer.