Covid-19: Call to bring in rural workers quickly

Australia’s peak farming body has called on states to expedite their quarantine arrangements for the newly announced agriculture visa.

National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson.

Australia’s peak farming body has called on states to expedite their quarantine arrangements for the newly announced agriculture visa as the spring harvest approaches.

The specialist farmwork visa, designed to fill workforce shortages in the sector exacerbated by the pandemic, is due to start at the end of next month. It will provide additional workers for the horticulture, meat processing, fisheries and forestry sectors.

Workers who wish to commit to working beyond three years would be given a route to permanent residency.

Premiers and chief ministers agreed last December they would take ownership of quarantine arrangements for agriculture workers, in addition to their arrival caps. National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson said the onus was on premiers to fulfil the commitment they had made.

“Now the federal government has done their part, the states are responsible for delivering the quarantine arrangements that they’ll be happy with and the chief health officer will sign off on,” she said.

“They should work with the agriculture players to design fit-for-purpose quarantine arrangements that will serve their industry well in their state.

“We need to get workers on our shores as safely and quickly as we can.”

Victoria struck a deal with Tasmania in January to allow seasonal workers to quarantine there before travelling to its state due to its quarantine cap. South Australia has trialled an in-country quarantine program.

The uncapped agriculture visa will be demand-driven but it is unclear how many workers will travel to Australia as part of the scheme. The federal government is negotiating agreements with countries that will participate in the scheme, with Southeast Asian countries to be among the first included.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has stressed that the visa will complement existing ­labour schemes for Pacific Island workers. But there are new warnings that the new agriculture visa could “undermine” the Pacific Labour Scheme.

Lowy Institute Pacific Islands program director Jonathan Pryke said the government should “at a minimum” extend the pathway of permanent residency to Pacific workers.

“It’s pretty confronting for the Pacific to see announcements of permanent pathways of migration to become available to Southeast Asian nations before such arrangements have been made for Pacific nations. This is something Pacific nations have been calling for,” he said.

Ms Simson said the costs and regulatory requirements in the Pacific Labour Scheme and Seasonal Workers Program meant they did not suit many farms.

“What is needed is a more flexible, portable visa to enable workers to move from farm to farm. Many smaller family farms can’t give seasonal workers the amount of work needed under those specific visas and the upfront payments,” she said.