Farm jobs go begging despite $6000 lure

Fewer than 150 job-seekers have accessed assistance payments of up to $6000 encouraging Australians to temporarily move into the regions for at least six weeks.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said there was a significant opportunity for Australians to live in the regions. Picture: Gary Ramage

Fewer than 150 job-seekers have accessed assistance payments of up to $6000 encouraging Australians to temporarily move into the regions for at least six weeks, sparking a recruitment drive by the Morrison government to fill more than 26,000 farm jobs.

As farmers across the country face seasonal labour shortages exacerbated by international and domestic COVID-19 border ­restrictions, the government will launch a campaign on Wednesday targeting 400,000 Australians and visa-holders aged between 18 and 30 to help drive workers into the regions.

Despite more than 1000 ­Pacific island and Timorese workers being brought in to support farmers, including a flight ­arriving in Tasmania on Wednesday, the government is concerned about labour shortages leading into a bumper summer season.

Under an assistance package announced in the October budget, Australians who relocate to harvest and regional areas and take up seasonal agricultural work are eligible to receive up to $6000. Visa-holders with work rights can access $2000. Both payments are on top of what workers earn on the job.

A federal government-sponsored National Harvest Virtual Jobs Fair hosted last month was attended by just 2716 job-seekers, with 26,012 jobs on offer.

The number of job-seekers ­accessing the $17.4m relocation assistance package, which came into effect on November 1, is ­expected to increase in the coming months as the summer work season peaks. As of this week, 148 job-seekers have been approved under the assistance program.

The government’s digital campaign will focus on younger workers, with youth employment plunging by 333,200 between March and May. While it has ­recovered in recent months, there are still 106,700 fewer younger Australians in jobs.

With international borders closed for the foreseeable future, Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said there was a significant opportunity for Australians to live in the regions “and earn money while you do it”.

“I want as many job-seekers to consider a seasonal job because we know that our farmers are desperate for more workers,” Senator Cash told The Australian.

“The pandemic has been devastating, particularly for young Australians, which is why the offer of seasonal work is such a great opportunity to earn a wage in a short period of time.

“The opportunity to undertake seasonal work will assist our younger job-seekers to avoid the scarring of extended periods of unemployment.”

A plane carrying 150 Timorese workers is scheduled to arrive in Tasmania on Wednesday night, adding to 953 workers sourced from Vanuatu, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Fiji. More flights are being planned across December and January.

In September, the national cabinet approved an Agricultural Workers Code to support the farming sector. The code was ­established in response to issues with the cross-border movement of agriculture workers.

The ABARES Australian Crop Report released on Tuesday forecasts a 76 per cent increase in the nation’s 2020-21 winter crop production to 51.5 million tonnes. The report notes that summer rainfall forecasts are likely to be above average across most summer cropping regions.

“Area planted to summer crops in 2020-21 is forecast to rise by 211 per cent from the drought-affected levels of 2019-20 to around 1.1 million hectares, which is 6 per cent below the 10-year ­average to 2019-20 due to area planted to cotton forecast to be below its long-term average,” the report states, adding: “Summer crop production is forecast to rise by 322 per cent.”