Why aren’t these 1151 jobs in high demand – is it because fruit picking and packing is hard work?

There are 1151 fruit picking and packing jobs up for grabs right now in Tasmania – and 34,288 people on JobSeeker payments crying out for work, so what’s the disconnect, asks Jenna Cairney.

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THERE are 1151 jobs currently up for grabs across Tasmania with employers looking to fill the positions quick smart.

And with the latest statistics showing that on August 24 there were 34,288 recipients of JobSeeker Payment in Tasmania, you wouldn’t expect these jobs to go unfilled for long.

Except for one thing: the jobs are within the agricultural sector.

With some harvests starting as soon as October, there are positions available for labourers, berry pickers, apple thinners and broccolini packers.

It’s hard work but it’s honest work and for anyone physically able, earning by working rather than relying on government handouts has to be the preferred option.

Except for some unfathomable reason, it’s not.

Despite the high number of JobSeeker recipients, punters aren’t lining up out the door for jobs, says Mercury editor Jenna Cairney. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

In December last year there were still 21,286 Tasmanians on the dole. That was before the coronavirus crisis turned our world upside down.

And back then, there were farmers who needed pickers to help them with harvest – except back then there was free travel, borders were open and overseas workers did the work and took the money.

In fact, Tasmanians’ refusal to do this sort of work has led to a total dependence on foreign workers.

Now that these workers are unable to gain access to Tasmanian, farmers are genuinely panicked about how they will get the work done.

Any Tasmanian who is out of work and relying on government money to survive should consider trying to do their bit.

WELCOME HOME MIKE

“Strong news reporting is one of Australia’s best defences against Chinese bullying,” Chris Mitchell wrote in the Australian.

And it’s true that reporting in that publication has shone a light into some very concerning trends including an expose into the Thousand Talents Program which sees the Chinese government pay some of our leading academics.

And the Mercury in recent weeks has also unearthed concerns about the fact a Chinese firm banned from the US for its role in creating an all-seeing surveillance system to crush internal dissent could soon be helping to monitor protests on Hobart’s parliament lawns.

It all might sound a little far-fetched until it hits home.

Yesterday the last two journalists working for Australian media in mainland China were evacuated from the country.

It was understood the ABC’s Bill Birtles and Australian Financial Review’s Michael Smith – a former Mercury reporter whose parents still live in Tasmania – had been questioned by China’s Ministry of State Security and there were moves afoot to detain the journalists.

This escalation happened a week after China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying defended the country’s treatment of foreign journalists, shortly after the detainment of Beijing-based Australian journalist Cheng Lei, a popular television host on the state-controlled China Global Television Network.

The relationship between Australia and China has soured since Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent inquiry into the origins of coronavirus.

China has threatened our export industry, warned its students it might not be safe to return here and now seems hellbent on flexing its muscle on Australians living there.

These are alarming escalations that need to be called out for what they are.