Demand for seasonal workers sparks row

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has reignited a stoush with the Victorian government over dire labour shortages facing fruit and vegetable growers.

David Littleproud. Picture: Gary Ramage

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has reignited a stoush with the Victorian government over the dire labour shortage facing fruit and vegetable growers, accusing the state of “ignoring” an industry proposal to bring in thousands of seasonal workers.

The Australian Fresh Produce Alliance, representing 1000 fruit and vegetable growers, put forward a six-month plan in October for up to 200 seasonal workers each fortnight to quarantine in Mildura after the Andrews government asked for solutions to ease the worker shortfall.

Healthcare provider Aspen Medical would run the facility and be responsible for the workers once they cleared Customs but charge the state government for its services, including a one-off fee of $9m to set up the facility for six months and a quarantining cost of $2500 a person.

Mr Littleproud said the ­Victorian government was “still refusing to make a decision” on the proposal despite lobbying from industry and the Morrison government.

“We have city-centric state governments making decisions for city dwellers but don’t want to look at agriculture or the regions differently when it is different,” he told The Australian. “The states wanted to maintain their ownership of quarantine protocols for these programs but have failed to do anything about it.”

According to Mr Littleproud’s figures, the Northern Territory brought in 323 seasonal workers from Vanuatu who quarantined in Howard Springs, while Queensland flew in 285 Tongans to quarantine on-farm and 173 workers from the Solomon Islands who did their quarantine in a hotel.

There have been 318 seasonal workers from the Pacific flown into Tasmania, 154 to Western Australia and 172 to NSW, though they were meat workers and not for horticulture.

AFPA chief executive Michael Rogers said if the Aspen Medical plan to bring in seasonal workers would not work in Victoria, industry needed a pathway that did.

“It is absolutely necessary,” he said. “We’ve got upcoming table grape and apple harvest. This problem’s not going away. Whether it’s (a plan for) six weeks or six months, we have real problems and we need a pathway into ­Victoria and it’s only going to get progressively worse.”

Mr Rogers also called on NSW to come up with a solution for seasonal harvest workers, conceding the $3000 a head quarantine cost the Berejiklian government charged to bring in meat workers from Fiji was too high for fruit and vegetable farmers.

He said the worst pressures were on Victoria, not NSW, noting 78 per cent of Australia’s table grapes were grown in the southern state and harvest was about to start. Apple harvest will begin in Victoria soon, with 45 per cent of the fruit in Australia produced there.

 

Victorian Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said growers had told the state government they needed a range of workers to ensure this season’s harvest and she would continue working on options to address the shortage, including welcoming Pacific Islanders. “Growers are encouraged to seek advice from Agriculture Victoria about the programs and fin­ancial incentives available to help attract workers for the harvest season,” she said.

State government sources said Victoria was waiting for the commonwealth to tell states what public health risks Pacific countries posed to inform quarantine requirements for seasonal workers.

State premiers have committed to working on new bilateral agreements with the Morrison government to establish health protocols for Pacific Islanders so more workers can arrive in an attempt to fix the looming gap of an estimated 26,000 horticulture workers by March.

Mr Littleproud said no state governments had so far put forward their proposals but he was ready to sign off on 22,000 pre-vetted seasonal workers once the states gave him the green light.