AFTER meeting with transport companies, council and growers, Liberal MPs Wendy Lovell and Roma Britnell say there is a general consensus that access to labour is one of the region’s biggest hurdles, affecting a raft of industries.
Ms Lovell, an Upper House Member for Northern Victoria, and Ms Britnell, Opposition spokesperson on freight, ports and country roads, visited Mildura on Thursday to find out about the region’s pressing issues.
During meetings with GTS Freight Management, Seaway Intermodal and Citrus Australia, Ms Britnell said there was clearly a common theme.
“One of the biggest issues I’ve been hearing all around this part of the world is access to labour is a real issue,” she said.
“So truck drivers, farm labour for harvesting crops — it’s right across sectors including hospitality … people are really struggling.”
Ms Britnell said many concerns raised by businesses had fallen on deaf ears and little assistance had been given.
“People in business were talking about how the last (five-day) lockdown had knocked them around a lot more than the first and second one, and knocked confidence,” she said.
“There was a lot of conversation around how the State Government is really struggling to listen to them, particularly around how business is assisted and costs are increased with hand sanitiser and deep cleans, and being able to meet that criteria with no assistance from government and no recognition of how they can continue to operate and make ends meet under those conditions.”
Future projects were a talking point with Mildura Rural City Council, along with their wish list for this year’s State Budget.
“We spoke about the need for more overtaking lanes on the highway, particularly south of Ouyen, and things going forward, further stages of the riverfront and solar power for the Mildura South sporting precinct,” Ms Lovell said.
Ms Lovell, who is based in the Goulburn Valley, said there were many similarities between the two regions, but hoped Mildura would have a different outcome when it came to access to labour.
“(In the Goulburn Valley) we’ve had fruit just dropping on the ground because our harvest has finished and the State Government hadn’t brought in any of the overseas workers.
“They brought the first plane load in on the weekend.
“But they’ve got 14 days’ quarantine, so it’s too late for the Goulburn Valley, but hopefully we’ll get some of them up here for the harvest.”
