Border closure: Taylor Family Produce, Poole’s Produce lose out after borders slammed shut

Many Southern Downs producers have been hit hard by the closures with workers, farmers and small businesses unable to operate on either side of the border as the uncertainty surrounding Covid exemptions continues.

Ray and Connie Taylor from Taylor Family Produce have been affected by the recent border closures between Queensland and New South Wales. Photo: NRM

Southern Downs farmers have been forced to grind productions to a halt with agriculture workers left in limbo and unable to move across borders.

Taylor Family Produce and Poole’s Produce are two local family businesses affected by the recent border closures between Queensland and New South Wales.

Current State Government restrictions imposed at 8pm Sunday stated that only essential workers, not including agriculture workers, were able to move between the two states.

Taylor Family Produce owner Ray Taylor said he was forced to keep 10 of his farmhand workforce at home as they were unable to cross the border to work on the family’s Liston farm.

“We can’t keep production going, it’s breaking the production cycle for our growing,” he said.

Mr Taylor said any longer than one day without production would cause major issues within the business, especially for his suppliers.

“We will have to redirect business in the short-term, but it will cause a three or four-week delay if it continues on,” he said.

Mr Taylor said the State Government’s lack of consideration for agricultural workers and their exemptions was concerning, with this uncertainty an ongoing issues each time there is a border closure.

“What’s annoyed me is the government have had no consultations with us. If they’re going to put mandates in place they need to have procedures so we can still run our businesses,” he said.

“This is not the first time, there has been quite a few (occasions). It’s just like a bandaid fix afterwards with no solution to the problem before.”

A Poole’s Produce spokeswoman said two of their farmers have been unable to come into the state from NSW to complete daily duties on the Elbow Valley family farm.

“If it were during peak harvesting season, it would put a lot of pressure on the staff,” she said.

“They are part of our permanent workforce, so we do have staff from our (Bapaume) farm that can move (to Elbow Valley), but it’s a matter of finding out what we can and can’t do to work around it,” she said.

She said the government’s decision to implement a hard border closure was not the issue, but rather the lack of information surrounding the logistics of agriculture worker exemptions.

“It would be easier to get on top of these things, as long as the information is clarified,” she said.

Member for Southern Downs James Lister said he had spoken to many families, workers, farmers and small businesses in the community who were “hit hard” by the border closures. Photo: NRM

Member for Southern Downs James Lister said he had spoken to many families, workers, farmers and small businesses in the community who were “hit hard” by the border closures.

“Some farmers and workers are ready to go planting just over the border in New South Wales and they’re being held in limbo without the details of how agricultural workers will be exempted,” he said.

“Waiting 12, 24 or 36 hours for the details we need is not good enough for our community. The State Government has been doing this stuff for long enough and they should be getting the administration right by now.”

The concerns come after many small businesses and motel owners in the region continue to face costly setbacks due to the border closures.