SUNRAYSIA growers are being duped by a National Party insinuation that attracting 15,000 workers needed for this year’s harvest won’t be a problem, according to Member for Mildura Ali Cupper.
Ms Cupper has slammed The Nationals for using “rubbery figures” to mislead growers about the number of workers the government can provide to the region this harvest.
She said shifting responsibility for labour shortages to the Victorian Government by making the issue about worker accommodation showed the Nats could not get the job done.
“The Nationals are meant to be for farmers — they are meant to be for rural Australians,” Ms Cupper said.
“They know damn well that creating an ag visa which will resolve the migration status of workers currently in Australia illegally is the only way to ensure certainty of labour for this year’s harvest,” she said.
“Instead, they have hoodwinked growers into thinking it’s not their problem.”
Ms Cupper said that while housing was part of the challenge, there was no point addressing that issue until growers were certain of having enough workers to get the fruit picked.
“All of a sudden it seems The Nationals are saying they can get 15,000 workers here, no questions asked,” she said.
“The attempt by The Nationals to shift responsibility to the Victorian Government by making the issue about housing is a cynical attempt to divert attention from their own failure to act in the interest of growers.”
She said she wanted Nationals Member for Mallee Anne Webster to confirm how many workers the government could commit to bringing to the region through existing programs in time for this year’s harvest.
Ms Webster said on Friday that at consultation sessions she recently organised in Mildura and Swan Hill with six government departments, including the Prime Minister’s office, in attendance, growers clearly said there was no point getting workers here if accommodation wasn’t available.
“The Federal Government is actively pursuing a visa solution to ensure the right workers with the right skills are in the right place at the right time,” Ms Webster said.
“We acknowledge there is a huge number of workers needed, but these workers have to be employed legally, paid appropriately and accommodated safely.”
Ms Webster said the Federal Government was working hard to find a solution and a way forward, but this required a whole-of- government approach including local, state and federal.
“This is not a time for politics — there is not a day that goes by that I am not working on a solution to this pending crisis.”
Ms Webster said said she was asking the Victorian Labor Government to work constructively with the Federal Government to ensure the best possible outcomes for local producers.
