The Victorian Government says it is working on plans to bring Pacific islanders here.
Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes said industry had told the government they need a mixture of local and international workers to ensure this season’s harvest.
“We’re listening to their needs and continue to negotiate a pathway so they can start getting international workers onto farms, while making sure as many Victorian jobseekers as possible have every opportunity to take up the promising jobs that are available in agriculture,” Ms Symes said.
Tasmania negotiated the introduction of hundreds of Pacific islanders for fruit harvesting in November. And in Queensland, 150 Tongans completed two weeks of quarantine to become available for harvest work in the same month.
Victorian Shadow Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh said Victoria was the only state in Australia not to have a seasonal worker quarantine framework, despite industry calls for Daniel Andrews to take up the Federal Government’s offer to streamline workers getting into the country.
“Agriculture is the lifeblood of the Victorian economy and worth $15.9 billion to our state,” Mr Walsh said.
“But without strong leadership, today’s challenges will become worsening problems and our farmers will miss out on new opportunities to become more productive and profitable.”
Only a small number of Australian workers have actually been engaged in jobs, despite a large number having registered with the Working for Victoria program.
Ms Symes said she encouraged industry to seek advice from Agriculture Victoria regarding the programs and incentives available over the harvest season.
Industry sources have told the government the last harvest was completed by about 20,000 workers, consisting of 3000 workers under the Pacific Islander Worker scheme, 13,000 international backpackers and 4000 local workers.
Agriculture Victoria has directly contacted almost 400 farms and businesses to help them with their workforce needs.
According to the government there are more than 15,000 jobseekers from regional Victoria registered with the Working for Victoria job-matching site, and there are more than 1000 agriculture jobs listed on the site.
The Working for Victoria platform has recorded 84 agriculture jobs as filled.
The Victorian Government started negotiations with the Northern Territory Government before hotel quarantine was re-established in Victoria to explore the possibility of interstate quarantine arrangements for international seasonal workers.
State Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed said growers were concerned there would be too small a pool of potential labour to draw on when the peak harvest time occurs in late January, through to March.
She has also heard disappointing reports from potential employees who have tried to negotiate the harvest labour services and seek information about the subsidies promised.
“I'm a bit concerned that all the effort to secure local people is probably not working.
“I have had people contacting my office finding difficulty getting answers in how they can qualify for the $6000 grant for relocation.”
