Labor yet to commit to Ag Visa, David Littleproud sceptical of AWU

Labor has flagged an announcement will be made about its commitment to securing labour for Aussie farmers, but no date has been set.

Federal Labor is yet to provide clarity on its solution to agriculture’s critical labour shortage.

A spokeswoman from Senator Kristina Keneally, who is deputy leader of the Opposition in the Senate, said there would be an announcement about Labor’s position on the Coalition’s new Agriculture Visa, however it was not expected to be this week.

The Federal Government has promised that 10 countries would sign up to the Ag Visa in the term of the next parliament. But so far, just Vietnam has signed a memorandum of understanding to join the long-awaited for visa scheme late last month.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud last week said Immigration Minister Marise Payne needed to sign off on contracts with labour hire companies and approved employers before Vietnamese workers could set to work on Australian farms.

“Once she signs those they’ll then go into Vietnam and we’ll identify those workers and bring them in as quickly as we can,” Mr Littleproud said.

David Littleproud during Question Time in the House of Representatives. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

India was invited to participate last week on the sidelines of the signing of the interim India-Australia Free-Trade Agreement.

Mr Littleproud said the biggest threat to the success of the Ag Visa was the Australian Workers Union’s vocal campaign to derail the program.

“If the other mob gets in I think the AWU are going to put a kybosh on the whole show – they are going to say no,” he said, in reference to the Labor Party winning next month’s Federal Election.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has refused to be drawn on whether his party supports the Ag Visa.

He has however hinted that foreign workers would be allowed to live in Australia permanently if Labor won the election.

Mr Albanese told the National Farmers’ Federation conference last week that workers who returned year after year to harvest should be allowed to “stay and make a contribution to the country”.