Worker agreement

The Victorian Government has extended its worker quarantine pathway, creating space for an additional 1500 Pacific Island seasonal workers.

Victorian Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas announced the refreshed agreement with the Tasmanian Government on September 7.

The Victoria-Tasmania arrangement sees Victoria’s Pacific Island workers quarantined in Tasmania while Victoria quarantines Tasmania’s returning citizens.

The quarantine deal was inked in January 2021 and was extended in June.

In both January and June the government promised it had the capacity to quarantine a new batch of 1500 workers.

As of September, more than 1460 workers have been quarantined through the deal — less than the 3000 the states had space for.

State Member for Murray Plains and Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh said the extension was a “Band-aid solution” which would not make a dent in the workforce shortage.

“More than 12 months on and Labor still doesn’t have a long-term solution that will give Victorian farmers certainty for the season ahead,” Mr Walsh said.

“A long-term plan should include the Victorian Government signing on to the Commonwealth’s Ag Visa program and making sure that the new quarantine facility at Mickleham has places dedicated to farm workers when it comes online at the end of the year.”

On ABC radio, Ms Thomas said the COVID-19 epidemic had exposed an over-reliance on overseas labour in the agricultural sector.

She said it was incumbent on the sector to think creatively about encouraging more local workers.

Ms Thomas said the Victorian Government had invested $10 million in sign-on bonuses for harvest labourers and had demonstrated there existed a ‘sweet spot’ in wages and conditions for attracting local workers.

The VFF welcomed the extension of the Victoria-Tasmania quarantine deal but said it was a small step towards filling the 24,000-plus worker shortage in peak season.

VFF president Emma Germano said the fact farmers were willing to pay $2000 for a person’s quarantine highlighted how important the seasonal workers were.

“There’s no hiding the fact that we still don’t have the required quarantine facilities needed to host the numbers of workers our industry needs,” Ms Germano said.

“We need a plan and we needed it yesterday.”

The Victorian Government provides $5300 to cover the cost of bringing each seasonal worker to farms.

Fruit Growers Victoria chair Mitchell McNab — an Ardmona orchardist — thanked the government for prioritising inbound travel.

“With so many Australians still looking to return home, we understand how sensitive the issue of inbound travel is,” Mr McNab said.

“Our growers are going to need labour from all parts of the globe to work in our industries for the foreseeable future, despite what the government says about building a local workforce.”

Fruit Growers Victoria is calling on the federal and state governments to help build a “sustainable workforce for the years to come”.

In a normal year about 3000 Pacific Islanders participate in the Victorian horticulture harvest.