AUGUST 22 was a monumental day for Australian agriculture.
It was a great day for broad-acre farmers, for dairy farmers, and for growers of fresh produce in horticulture and agriculture.
It was a great day because the Liberal-Nationals government delivered a history-making agriculture visa.
This visa is about providing a long-term, reliable workforce for critical industries, while solving one of the greatest challenges facing food and fibre production in regional Australia.
The new visa will be in place by September 30 this year, with full implementation within three years.
The visa will be demand-driven. In other words, there will be no limitation on the number of workers brought in. Australia will welcome as many workers as needed.
Importantly, the visa will be available to skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled workers from a range of countries.
Now that the Commonwealth Government has delivered this important visa, the key constraint to bringing workers into the country is quarantine capacity.
Mildura is positioned well to set up a purpose-built quarantine facility for seasonal workers.
I have begun discussions with relevant community leaders, including our local state member and Mildura Council. I have also spoken with Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews and Minister for Health Greg Hunt.
A key priority for any proposals needs to be community safety and local business benefits.
Risk to the community is limited by ensuring that the quarantine facility is constructed to the highest health safety standards and only welcoming international arrivals from low-risk countries.
Many of our partners in the Pacific and south-east Asia have COVID under control. Pre-departure and on-arrival testing can also be employed to further reduce risk.
Options including a proposal by Aspen Medical are being assessed. Aspen Medical is leading provider of health care solutions and has established and managed several quarantine programs and facilities, including 1600 people for the Australian Open. Many of these came from COVID-ravaged countries. There was not one outbreak. Aspen has also managed AFL quarantine in other states.
Once Australia reaches the 80 per cent vaccination rate target, our borders will begin to open to more and more international arrivals. The national plan highlights the means to manage risk from international arrivals.
That’s why we need purpose-built facilities now, to ensure we can welcome as many people as possible, as safely as possible, including returning Australians.
