David Littleproud wants university students on welfare to help solve looming jobs crisis

Students on welfare payments like Austudy should give up the European gap year, and instead travel Australia picking fruit at farms, to help beat the worker shortage, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says.

University students on Austudy payments should travel the country fruit picking on farms, instead of doing a European gap year, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said as a worker crisis looms.

A suite of measures, including bringing in more Pacific nation workers and incentives for Aussies on the dole, are being worked up to address the shortage of up to 70,000 workers.

Holiday working visa holders, the backpackers who usual work the fruit picking jobs shunned by Australians, have been leaving the country since the pandemic and new ones are not allowed in with the border closures.

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Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says university students on Austudy should switch from a gap year trip around the world, travelling Australia picking fruit. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Mr Littleproud said that while they were open to allowing more Seasonal and Pacific Worker visa holders in, in a managed, quarantine process, they were also keen for jobless locals to take up the jobs.

“We’ll continue to do that in a practical way and look at how we can incentivise Australians to take these jobs,” he said.

“We already do with respect to relocation payments within social security for those that are on the JobSeeker payment, there are incentives already for relocation we’ll look at that.

“We will look at those that are on Austudy, is there an opportunity for those that are going to uni, receiving that.

“They can’t go an backpack around the world, maybe that can backpack around the country this summer and earn a quid. Go back to uni with a few dollars in their pockets, ready to hit next year.”

He said it was often difficult to encourage Australians to take the jobs, despite the high rate of unemployment, because it involved working at one location for a few week and moving on to the next gig, often thousands of kilometres away.

A shortage of overseas backpacker workers is expected to damage the industry and put up grocery prices unless more workers are found. Picture: Lachie Millard

“Some of them do have family commitments and you’ve got to appreciate that not everyone can just fall in that bucket. It might sound simplistic and popular, we have to work in practical realities,” he said.

The number of working holiday visa holders in the country have more than halved to just 85,000 people, and the number is continued to fall.

Growcom acting CEO Richard Shannon has previously said the national workforce shortage of 71,000 workers included 22,000 in Queensland.