Coronavirus: Cash carrots to get on harvest trail

The Morrison government is telling young, jobless Australians they could find love if they head to the regions to pick fruit.

‘You’ll find more friends, you might find the love of your life out in regional Australia,’ Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack says as he appeals to young, unemployed Aussies to join the harvest trail.

Welfare recipients will be offered relocation payments worth thousands of dollars each to work on Australia’s farms and pick fruit, as the Morrison government implores thousands of locals and foreign nationals to join the harvest trail.

The Australian understands the government is also considering giving the cash payments to Australians not on welfare, ahead of announcing a budget package designed to stem a horticulture labour shortfall of up to 26,000 people by March.

Nationals leader Michael McCormack said unemployed young people should do farm work because they might find the love of their life and will have many Instagram opportunities.

Making his pitch to Youth Allowance­ recipients, who will be offered the relocation cash along with those on JobSeeker, the Deputy Prime Minister said country living was more affordable and they would be welcomed with “open arms”.

“Have a go. Come to regional Australia,” he said. “Bring your mobile, have that Instagram ­moment because up a ladder, picking fruit, blue sky in the background, wonderful country breeze, wonderful friends around. You’ll find more friends, you might find the love of your life out in regional Australia. It could change the way you live.”

While Mr McCormack said it was “desirable” for the government to fill the workforce gap with Australians, he conceded that Pacific Islanders and other foreign nationals would be needed during a bumper harvest.

The Australian revealed on Wednesday that backpackers, Pacific­ Islanders and seasonal workers would be able to extend their visas to stay here for longer.

Mr McCormack said the extensio­n would last 12 months for backpackers doing horticulture work.

JobSeeker and Youth Allowance recipients will be encouraged to go to the regions and work on the land, earning up to $300 a fortnight from a farmer before welfare payments are reduced.

Mr McCormack would not say whether the government would provide transport and accommodation subsidies for those Australians who joined the harvest trail, and ­demanded that state governments play a role in stemming the worker shortfall.

“We can’t force people to take these jobs, we can’t actually herd people on to buses and transport them there, but we jolly well will make sure there are incentives for them to do so,” he said.

“It’s up to those people who are out of work to have a look, to see what’s available … There is a mutual­ obligation there to ­actually, if there’s a job there, take it.”

Australians aged 16-24 can qualify for Youth Allowance, depending­ on whether they’re looking for work, studying or have an apprenticeship.

Australian Workers Union ­national secretary Daniel Walton lashed the incentives for youth on welfare benefits as “nothing short of modern-day slavery”.

The oppos­ition’s agriculture spokes­man, Joel Fitzgibbon, agreed that it would be modern-day slavery if protections were not in place to prevent worker ­exploitation.

He cautioned that a previous government program allowing Newstart recipients to earn $5000 annually for horticulture work without losing their taxpayer-funded payment was a flop.

There were 7600 places but fewer than 500 people signed up.

“Any initiative has to have a very important point: that farmers don’t want people on their farms who don’t want to be there,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.