Susan McDonald pushes for no quarantine for Pacific Island workers

Allowing foreign fruit pickers to move easily within Queensland could be the key saving millions in produce.

Allowing foreign fruit pickers to move easily within Queensland could be the key to saving millions of dollars in produce.

With $22m on the line, Senator Susan McDonald has called for a travel bubble with the Pacific Islands and no quarantine for workers in Queensland.

With the situation at “crisis point” Ms McDonald some crops still laden with produce were at risk of rotting.

“We need to have a Pacific Islands bubble to allow more fruit and vegie pickers, more Pacific Island workers, to get on farms,” Ms McDonald said.

“Whether it is five people, 30 or 300, we need them and we need them now because this is a crisis for our Australian farmers.”

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Earlier this month, the Federal Government approved 22,000 visas for workers to come into the country.

It is understood a number of countries, including Tonga, Naru and Tuvalu are COVID-19 free, while Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu have reported a handful of cases.

Ms McDonald said Queensland had led the way, allowing fruit and vegie workers to quarantine on farms.

“We needed this last week, two weeks ago, to have Pacific Islanders allowed into the country,” she said.

Senator Susan McDonald speaks to media at the LNP party in Townsville during the 2020 state election. PICTURE: MATT TAYLOR.

“They don’t have coronavirus there (and) we desperately need them here.

“There are Australian farmers who can’t get their crops off, Australians will pay more for their fruit and vegetables. We need to make sure this happens urgently.”

A state government spokesman said it would be up to the federal government to provide assurances that a travel bubble could be done safely.

“Queensland is leading the nation in trialling on-farm quarantine arrangements that allow Pacific labourers to work while keeping Queenslanders safe from COVID-19,” the spokesman said.

He said the arrangements had been extended until March.

“We would love to see more Queenslanders in these jobs and have incentives available to help them with travel and accommodation costs.”

The state has implemented quarantine-free flights from New Zealand, which have been in place since mid-December.

Originally published as Susan McDonald pushes for no quarantine for Pacific Island workers