Federal Labor agriculture spokeswoman Julie Collins’ plans for the portfolio

Tackling the worker shortage will be one of the top priorities for Labor’s new agriculture spokeswoman, Julie Collins. Meet the Tassie MP taking over the portfolio.

Labor MP Julie Collins. Picture: Matt Thompson

AGRICULTURE needs the Federal Government to step up and take the lead if the sector’s ongoing worker shortage is to be resolved, Labor’s new agriculture spokeswoman Julie Collins says.

The Tasmanian MP said national leadership on the crisis was well overdue, with the states forced to go it alone to come up with solutions to combat the dwindling numbers of harvest workers.

“It (the workforce) has obviously been a structural issue for a very long time,” Ms Collins said.

“The Government’s been there for eight years, the pandemic started 12 months ago – the Government should have responded a lot earlier.”

Criticism of Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud’s handling of the crisis has been mounting; however, the minister has repeatedly pointed out that state governments wanted to retain control of quarantine protocols, including for seasonal workers.

Ms Collins said while that was true, ultimate responsibility for the seasonal worker program and quarantine lay with the Federal Government and there should be consistency in how workers were brought in.

Tackling the worker shortage will be among the top priorities for Ms Collins, who moved into the agriculture portfolio less than two weeks ago following Labor’s recent reshuffle.

The crisis has affected growers in her electorate of Franklin, which includes one of Tassie’s biggest agricultural regions, the Huon Valley: a major producer of harvest-labour intensive crops including apples, cherries and stone fruit.

Trade and market access will also be high on her agenda, particularly as tensions continue between Australia and China, as well as the challenges agriculture faces due to climate change.

While not coming from an agricultural background herself, Ms Collins said she was “thrilled” to have the portfolio and vowed to get out and hear from farmers first-hand.

“Our primary producers did an astonishingly good job in keeping supply chains going and ensuring we had access to food during the pandemic,” she said.

“I want to get out and about and listen to everybody on what they see as the big issues, and what role government has in the solution.”