Flight of 140 farm workers cancelled amid changes to WA hotel quarantine arrangements

The State’s peak horticultural body is reeling after a flight of 140 overseas farm workers was cancelled just weeks out from landing in Perth amid changes to the State’s hotel quarantine system. vegetablesWA claimed workers under the Pacific Labour Scheme and Seasonal Labour Program could no longer be accommodated, despite the labour crisis, calling it a “massive blow” for the industry worth more than $900million. It has sparked fears future flights could be jeopardised and growers could be “severely compromised” come harvest. But the State Government insisted the decision was made for “a single flight” and did not signal the end of international labour for WA growers. vegetablesWA yesterday received confirmation from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development that the flight of 140 workers from Vanuatu due to arrive in Perth on May 7 was no more. The news came five days after the State Disaster Council endorsed the findings of an independent review into WA’s hotel quarantine arrangements. vegetablesWA president Damir Kuzmicich said he was “shocked” by the development and urged the State Government to find a “workable solution”. “There are so many alternative options to utilising the existing hotel quarantine measures,” he said. “The WA Government could add another quarantine hotel to increase capacity or look at regional accommodation options. Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan said the decision had been made on health advice and they were working “as quickly as possible” on alternative arrangements for future flights. “On the advice of the Chief Health Officer and following an independent review into hotel quarantine arrangements in Western Australia, a number of changes are being made to strengthen our hotel quarantine regime,” Ms MacTiernan said. “This has meant there will be reduced capacity in our State Government-managed hotel quarantine system to accommodate seasonal workers in the early May period. “Because of this, the Chief Health Officer has not approved the flight of seasonal workers from Vanuatu proposed for 7 May. The flight was one of two scheduled for May, with a decision on the late-May flight expected to be made early next week. Ms MacTiernan said the decision had no impact on a flight due to arrive on Tuesday from Tonga, which had received final approval to bring 150 workers in to assist the viticulture industry. “Throughout the pandemic WA has been guided by the health advice — our state has been so successful because we follow the health advice,” she said. “In this case, the health advice is that we cannot accommodate this single flight in hotel quarantine because of changes required to strengthen the quarantine system. “COVID is running rampant around the globe and we cannot take risks when it comes to quarantine – just today we have seen seven new cases reported in WA’s hotel quarantine system. The workers on the cancelled flight were set to be deployed throughout the Kimberley, South West, Gascoyne and Wheatbelt, with the majority bound for horticultural roles. Since December, 636 workers have arrived in WA through the programs, with about 160 set to leave hotel quarantine later this week. The 150 due in next week will bring the total to 786. They have been deployed across the State to undertake work including harvesting carrots and brocollini in Myalup, apples in Pemberton, grapes in Waroona, meat processing in Narrogin and Katanning and hospitality in the State’s north. The State Government finalised quarantine arrangements for overseas workers late last year to fill the mammoth 7000-job void left by backpackers returning home during the pandemic. A push to get locals to fill the positions fell short, with 1080 residents taking up jobs on WA farms under the State’s ‘Work and Wander Out Yonder’ campaign, which provided travel and accommodation subsidies for workers. vegetablesWA labour scheme facilitator Melissa Denning pointed to alternative arrangements other States had rolled out, including the use of regional quarantine facilities in Queensland and South Australia, and the NSW Government subsidising 50 per cent of agricultural workers’ hotel quarantine costs. She claimed other states understood the “urgent need” for workers to ensure food production was not impeded, while she said WA was “scaling back”. “We have welcomed four plane loads of Pacific workers since December and the process has been seamless, with zero cases of Covid-19 resulting from these programmes,” Ms Denning said. “In January, Victoria and Tasmania struck a deal which saw workers from the Pacific Islands allowed into Victoria under special quarantine arrangements. “Tasmania quarantines the workers for two weeks before they are allowed onto Victorian farms. “Perhaps we need to look at making similar arrangements with another state to keep the steady flow of workers into WA.”