State Government’s $3m accommodation, travel support scheme to get jobless to take up regional agriculture jobs

The State Government hope to entice West Australians to take up agricultural jobs in the bush by pitching in for their accommodation and travel costs. Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan today announced a $3 million support scheme to attract seasonal agricultural workers to regional WA to help with the State’s grain harvest and horticulture crops. The scheme will aid agriculture, fisheries and food processing businesses in regional areas experiencing labour shortages as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible workers who move to the country will also be able to claim up to $40 a night in accommodation rebates for up to 12 weeks — up to $3360. Travel allowances will also be available, ranging from $150 to the Peel, South West, Great Southern, Wheatbelt, Mid West or Goldfields-Esperance regions, $350 for travel to the Gascoyne or Pilbara, and $500 to the Kimberly. Ms MacTiernan said an additional 7000 seasonal jobs were required over spring and summer in agriculture alone for harvesting, packing and processing work. The State’s agriculture industries rely heavily on backpackers and other foreign workers, but supply has dried up because of coronavirus travel restrictions, prompting concerns there will not be enough manpower during peak production periods. “We recognise there’s a real challenge for farmers to get the harvest in, particularly over the next three months, so we are providing a financial incentive for a new cohort who will want to give it a try,” Ms MacTiernan said. The scheme follows the launch of the State Government’s Work and Wander Out Yonder campaign, promoting local jobs in agriculture, tourism and hospitality throughout regional WA. Ms MacTiernan said she was also calling on the Federal Government to offer some flexibility around JobSeeker allowances or other incentives for local workers. She said she had written to Federal counterparts requesting Jobseeker recipients who head to regional WA for work continue to receive their welfare payments for the first month — on top of their wage. Ms MacTiernan said many farm workers could earn up to $1800 a fortnight picking fruit. Shadow Agriculture Minister Steve Thomas said subsidising accommodation costs to the value of $40 a night was a token effort by Labor that would leave the agricultural sector flat and unimpressed, and was unlikely to work. "The Government’s response to the impending crisis in the agricultural sector has been a ridiculous advertising campaign and now they are offering a token payment," He said. Dr Thomas said the State Government’s advertisements, which show young people “frolicking down the lanes in an orchard, while chatting, laughing and once in a while picking a piece of fruit” was unrealistic. "They have successfully reinforced that they have no understanding of how agriculture works in WA,” he said. "Paying lip service to agriculture whilst remaining under the thumb of the unions and left wing ideology will see Alannah MacTiernan and Mark McGowan overseeing crops rotting on the vine and sheep remaining unshorn."