A HIGH-level meeting featuring four federal departments and industry stakeholders in Mildura on Monday is a “significant first step” in finding a solution to an impending labour-hire shortage for Sunraysia, Member for Mallee Anne Webster says.
Dr Webster said officials from the federal agriculture, home affairs, employment and foreign affairs departments would meet stakeholders, local and state government representatives to discuss and work through issues to ensure an adequate workforce for Sunraysia growers for the picking season.
“It’s a very important meeting and as far as I’m aware it’s the first time it’s happened, where we have four departments all coming because they recognise the critical nature of the issue we’re facing,” she said.
“(This is) the first and probably the most significant step in ensuring growers have access to the workers they need, and when they need them, this summer.
“It’s very, very positive as an acknowledgment of the reality of what we’re facing here.”
The Federal Agriculture Department will host a number of consultations across the region with a range of affected parties, including farmers, packers, labour-hire contractors and community representatives.
The meetings come after Dr Webster lobbied Prime Minister Scott Morrison and several other federal ministers about an impending labour shortage crisis facing Sunraysia.
The government has resisted introducing an agriculture-specific visa despite growers and industry groups such as the national and Victorian farmers’ federations pushing for it.
Instead, it has advocated the Pacific Seasonal Worker program, which allows workers from nine Pacific island countries to work on Australian farms, as well as holidays visas which attract backpackers.
Both Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack have also said enticing Australians to regional areas to work in agricultural industries should be a priority.
“I have heard loud and clear from growers in Mallee that we are facing a catastrophic shortfall in workforce this season,” Dr Webster said.
“I continue to lobby the PM and ministers to find a solution.
“I continue to tell them that doing nothing is not an option.
“Growers in and around Swan Hill have told me that upwards of $50 million in produce will fall to the ground and rot if they can’t get the workers they need.
“That’s a disaster for growers — and it’s a disaster for our local economy as well — meaning less money spent in our communities on farm supplies, machinery, on clothes and on groceries.”
