Farmers await costs, conditions of Victorian seasonal worker scheme

Victoria has finally committed to bringing Pacific Island seasonal workers in the help with harvest — but the devil will be in the detail, farmers warn.

More seasonal workers from overseas will finally be allowed into Victoria, under a new scheme announced last week.

VICTORIAN growers still don’t know how much it will cost them to bring Pacific Island seasonal workers into the state to help with harvest, under the State Government’s new quarantine-sharing arrangement with Tasmania.

While farmers have generally welcomed the Victorian Government’s commitment to allow entry for 1500 workers in the coming months, there’s still little detail on how the scheme will work.

The sector was not consulted on the plan prior to its announcement on Friday; industry is meeting with the Government this week as it finalises the program, including how much farmers will pay for quarantine.

Australian Fresh Produce Alliance chief executive Michael Rogers said the group looked forward to “working through the detail to ensure it’s a cost-effective and practical solution for growers”.

The horticulture industry is facing a chronic worker shortage, with international travel bans due to coronavirus decimating its usual workforce of backpackers and seasonal workers.

Victoria had been under pressure to re-open to Pacific Island workers, after first promising to have a quarantine pathway set up almost two months ago.

Under the new plan, Pacific Islanders will quarantine in Tasmania for 14 days before coming to work on Victorian farms; in return, Victoria will quarantine Tasmanians returning from overseas.

“We have done all that we can as quickly as we can,” Victorian Agriculture Minister Mary Anne Thomas said.

“We understand the plight of our industry at the moment … we will continue to support the industry by picking up some of the tab (for quarantine) but that’s still to be agreed.”

Victorian Farmers Federation Emma Germano said while the commitment was welcome, industry needed to know the costs involved.

“They need to put some meat on the bones of this announcement so we can work out how valuable it’s going to be,” she said.

“We absolutely want to get it (the seasonal worker program) started again … but what are the conditions attached to that? If we’re adding in extra domestic flights, quarantine, some farmers may be priced out of the market.”

It’s hoped the first workers will be on farm by late February or early March.