THE Victorian Government has been accused of using a platform designed to help fill anticipated harvest labour shortages this season as a union recruitment drive.
Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh said the government had known for eight months that growers faced a major shortage of labour for this summer’s harvest.
“The backpackers — those with work visas who were in Australia and who usually do this work — have started to return home as fast as they can get air travel to do that,” Mr Walsh told State Parliament.
“They are not being replaced with new people coming in for this summer because of the quotas on people coming in from overseas and that is all dedicated to returning Australians,” he said.
Mr Walsh said the failure of hotel quarantine in Victoria and the failure of contact tracing meant there were no overseas travellers returning to the state, which had further exacerbated the issue in Victoria.
He said growers were nervous about using the government’s Working for Victoria platform, designed to connect agricultural businesses needing staff with future workers.
“What horticulturists have explained to me is that if they actually register with the Working for Victoria platform to potentially access labour, they have to sign an agreement that they will allow the unions on to their property into the future,” he said.
“A lot of people feel very, very nervous about that particular situation.
“Effectively the government is using the resources of government, paid for by the taxpayer, to supposedly help farmers get labour but is actually using it as a membership drive for the unions.
“I do not believe that that is the appropriate use of taxpayers’ money.”
Mr Walsh he had already met industry participants in Mildura to put forward a possible solution to the issue.
“The Vanuatu Government is very keen to have their people come to Victoria and work.
“You could easily do that by having direct charter flights from Vanuatu to Mildura, because the airport at Mildura is large enough to take big jets.
“That would solve the issue around the quotas on overseas returned travellers.
“It would not take away any slots from Australians wanting to return from overseas, because they are not at the capital city airports.
“You could bring them directly into Mildura and you could quarantine them in Mildura for their two weeks and they could go directly to work.”
Mr Walsh said the concept had been put to the government.
He said Vanuatu’s Deputy Prime Minister had written to the Victorian Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and indicated the Vanuatu Government “would very much like” to get involved in having their citizens work in Victoria.
“There have been ideas put forward that have been squashed by the government,” he said.
“The Federal Government, within about 24 hours, believe they could turn around all the paperwork to get an issue like that to happen, so there is no issue with the Federal Government on the issues of immigration.”
Mr Walsh said he was unaware if there had been a response to the Deputy Prime Minister of Vanuatu.
