John Williams says illegal worker amnesty, ag visa may be part of labour solution

An agriculture visa could be considered, the deputy chair of the Federal Government’s workforce committee says.

Nationals Senator John Williams during his valedictory speech in the Senate at Parliament House in February. Picture: AAP

AN AMNESTY for illegal workers could be considered to “clean out” Australia’s agriculture workforce, the hand-picked deputy chair of a new Federal Government advisory committee says.

Former Nationals senator John Williams has also flagged that an agriculture visa “may well be” part of the solution to the sector’s labour shortage — but that he wanted to see more Australians embracing agriculture as a career.

Mr Williams — who retired this year after 10 years as a NSW senator — is one of 11 members of the National Agricultural Labour Advisory Committee, unveiled today by Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie.

The committee will be chaired by John Azarias — who led the 2014 review into skilled migration visas — and has been tasked with coming up with a long-term solution to ag’s workforce needs.

Farmers, particularly horticulture producers, have long been calling for a dedicated agriculture visa as a way to tackle ongoing labour shortages. The Victorian Farmers Federation has also called for amnesty — either for workers or growers — in order to flush out undocumented workers without decreasing the current workforce numbers, arguing fear of persecution is hiding the true extent of the problem.

Mr Williams told The Weekly Times all options would be explored.

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“An amnesty could be a good thing to clean it out, so people are not afraid to come forward and tell the truth,” he said.

“But in the long-term you need to have a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

Mr Williams was one of several Nationals to publicly back an agriculture visa — a proposal the Government appears to have all but abandoned.

Mr Williams said the committee may consider such a visa, but that he wanted to find ways to get more local people into farm work, adding there were shortages for higher-skilled roles as well as seasonal harvest work.

“It frustrates me that more Australian men and women aren’t taking these jobs,” he said.

“The future of agriculture is huge, and the workforce is so important, not only on farm but through abattoirs, or the transport industry, right through the supply chain.

“Hopefully over time we can see a constant well-committed workforce for agriculture.”

The last attempt to attract unemployed Australians to harvest work — the seasonal worker incentive trial — failed, with just 333 people applying for the 7000-plus places available in the two-year program.

The Government has introduced a number of changes the past year aimed at encouraging more agriculture workers to Australia, including relaxing criteria and lifting caps on the working holiday-maker program, and making the seasonal worker program easier for smaller farmers to access.

Senator McKenzie said the committee will have until July 2020 to come up with the $1.9 million National Agricultural Workforce Strategy — a key Coalition promise in this year’s election.

Senator McKenzie said the committee would consider the current state of the workforce, international and domestic labour sources, and ways to encourage more young people into the sector. That will include looking at school, vocational and higher education.

“I want Australians to recognise that they can have a rewarding, fulfilling, hi-tech career out in rural and regional Australia working in agriculture,” she said.

“It will be important for the committee to hear the views of those in the industry and the committee will undertake national consultation with a range of stakeholders in the coming months.”

Just one grower has been named on the committee — owner-director of Kalfresh, Robert Hinrichsen.

University of Melbourne rural innovation researcher Ruth Nettle has also been named as deputy chair.

Other members include leading academics from Deakin and Canberra universities; Gundagai Meat Processors chief executive Will Barton; and executives from Simplot Australia and Austral Fisheries.