Table grape industry accused of using illegal harvest workers

A major labour hire provider told a parliamentary inquiry table grape growers relied heavily on undocumented workers – but the Australian Table Grape Association has refuted the claim.

Australian Table Grape Association chief executive Jeff Scott has rejected comments that the industry relies on illegal harvest workers.

A MAJOR labour hire service has accused table grape growers of using high numbers of illegal workers, saying they had little fear of being caught.

Not-for-profit recruitment agency MADEC claimed the table grape industry relied heavily upon undocumented workers, suggesting it showed growers were “not confident the alternative supply of labour to them is satisfactory”.

The comments, made to a federal parliamentary inquiry into working holiday-makers, have been rejected by the Australian Table Grape Association as “misinformed”.

MADEC’s state harvest trail information service manager Robert Hayes told the inquiry there needed to be a fit-for-purpose workforce available for the table grape industry, saying growers were “clearly using the model (of illegal workers) for a reason”.

“Certainly not all industries use such high levels of undocumented labour,” Mr Hayes said.

He said he did not think the industry feared compliance, believing the risk of somehow taking action against them was low.

Mr Hayes told The Weekly Times he based his comments from a Victorian Farmers Federation survey last year, which found 71 per cent of Sunraysia growers suspected they had undocumented workers on their farms.

“I could only defer to the VFF report, but by its very nature it’s hard to estimate (the table grape industry’s use of illegal workers),” Mr Haynes said.

“It (employing legal workers) doesn’t tend to be foremost in the minds of table grape growers.”

Mr Haynes said, however, that in the most recent season, there was a lot more growers using the Pacific Island seasonal worker program: “And the one good thing we know is that all the (SWP) workers are legal, are paid correctly and are looked after.”

ATGA chief executive Jeff Scott rejected Mr Hayes’ inquiry comments, and said the industry had been working with federal and state government bodies over several years to build up legal workforces, be it through the seasonal worker program or advocating for visa changes.

“If you talk to all of our growers they will definitely tell you they are in pursuit of legal workers only,” Mr Scott said.

“A lot may use labour hire services as well, such as MADEC … our industry is trying extremely hard to ensure there is a sufficient pool of legal workers.”

MORE

REVIVED PUSH FOR ILLEGAL WORKER AMNESTY

AG VISA MAY BE PART OF FARM LABOUR SOLUTION