Regional towns to cop $360m hit in backpacker overhaul
A union proposal to dismantle working holiday visas will leave farmers without 36,000 crucial backpackers they desperately need for harvest packing and gouge $360 million from the economies of struggling regional towns.
NSW
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Struggling regional towns would take a $360 million hit under a dangerous union proposal to dismantle working holiday visas.
Government analysis reveals the Australian Council of Trade Unions push to scrap the second year of the program would send 36,000 backpackers who farmers desperately need for harvest packing.
Working holiday makers spend on average $10,000 — abandoning the second year option would rip $360 million from Australia’s tourism industry particularly in regional areas where backpackers are forced to work.
The Daily Telegraph revealed last week that the powerful union was pressuring Labor to overhaul working holiday visas and significantly reduce work rights for backpackers.
Opposition immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann did not rule out supporting the plan and said Labor, if elected, would cut the number of temporary workers in Australia.
Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said not only would the ACTU’s proposal have a devastating impact on our farmers but would also impact on the thriving tourism industry,
In 2017/18 there were 309,000 working holiday maker arrivals to Australia who injected $3.1 billion into the economy. 72 per cent of those backpackers spent some time in NSW while in the country.
Senator Birmingham said Labor had once again proven it was beholden to its union masters.
“Labor and the ACTU’s plan to abandon altogether the second year working holiday visa would remove over 36,000 working holiday visa holders from the Australian economy,” Senator Birmingham said.
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“This is another union driven policy by Labor that will have a detrimental impact on small businesses and our economy.”
Agriculture assistant minister Richard Colbeck said the Morrison government was committed to expanding the program unlike Labor.
“Access to sufficient labour, particularly for seasonal work, is a perennial issue and concern for the industry,” he said.
Australian Chamber of Commerce tourism executive chair John Hart said backpackers were a vital source of tourism revenue particularly in the regions.
“Often the focus with the Working Holiday Maker Program is its importance to the agricultural sector, but for tourism, the program is as much about tourism spend as it is about supplementing the workforce,” he said.
“Any attack on the program would be a direct attack on Australia’s standout industry performer, tourism.”
Originally published as Regional towns to cop $360m hit in backpacker overhaul
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