Election 2025: Agriculture visa pledge raises exploitation, diplomatic warnings

The Coalition’s recommitment to establishing a specialist agriculture visa has sparked warnings the farm labour scheme would damage diplomatic ties with Pacific nations.

A seasonal worker from Vanuatu on an orchard in the Yarra Valley. Picture: Mark Stewart

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The Coalition’s recommitment to establishing a specialist agriculture visa has sparked warnings the farm labour scheme would damage diplomatic ties with Pacific nations, pose a risk of exploitation and “turbocharge” migration.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud reaffirmed the Coalition’s commitment to a farm visa under its agriculture plan, in response to calls from producers to address persistent workforce shortages in the sector. 

Mr Littleproud also pledged that if elected the Coalition would undertake a review of existing Pacific labour schemes, keep the requirement for backpackers to work regionally, and develop a food security strategy.

“Agriculture is critical to Australia’s success but Labor has treated the agricultural industry with contempt,” Mr Littleproud said.

But experts criticised the plan to bring back the agriculture visa, which the Morrison government had sought to implement before Labor axed the scheme in favour of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme.

Former Department of Immigration deputy secretary Abul Rizvi said establishing a specialist agriculture visa would be “ridiculously inconsistent” with the Coalition’s pledge to cut net overseas migration by 100,000.

Dr Rizvi said many foreign workers who came to Australia under an agriculture scheme would abandon the program and apply for asylum, comparing similar schemes overseas to “modern day slavery”.

“It would be ridiculously inconsistent, because if you’re an ag visa-holder, why would you want to go home?” he said.

“The best thing to do would be to run away from the employer, apply for asylum and get a job in the city.”

Applying for asylum would provide access to work rights and extend their stay in Australia.

Under PALM, regional and rural businesses can hire workers from nine Pacific Island countries and East Timor for up to four years when there are local workforce shortages.

Australian National University Development Policy Centre director Stephen Howes said an agriculture visa would effectively become an “Asian PALM”, and would mean Pacific islanders would have to compete against Asian workers.

“It would definitely undermine the PALM scheme,” Professor Howes said.

“Which doesn’t make sense, obviously it’s bad for the Pacific, but if you think about how Australia is really stressing the importance of the Pacific and the importance of strategic competition in the Pacific – it really doesn’t make sense from a foreign policy point of view.”

A Labor campaign spokeswoman accused the Coalition of neglecting the Pacific for more than a decade and “pledging to do it all again”.

“They are threatening the economic security of the Pacific by establishing a rival labour mobility program with Asia,” she said.

“Peter Dutton has no credibility in the Pacific.”

But National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke said an agricultural worker scheme was “one of the best things a government could do to support Aussie farming”.

“Currently, farmers face a crippling labour shortage,” Mr Jochinke said.

“They’re choosing not to plant crops, or watching their crops rot in the field because they can’t get the help they need. At the end of the day, every Australian pays the price for that at the supermarket checkout.

“With a custom-built visa pathway, we can bring in the workers we need and design it so we give those workers a great experience in regional Australia.”