‘It won’t be the deciding factor’: WA growers doubt waiving backpacker visa fees will make much difference

A WA horticultural industry figurehead has welcomed a move to waive visa fees for backpackers, but believes “it won’t make the difference” between working holidaymakers choosing to come to WA or not. Amid pandemic-induced labour shortages, crops in Carnarvon are being left to rot in paddocks, with no one around to pack them and not enough truck drivers to pick them up. It has come as a “significant” cost for growers, Carnarvon Growers Association operations manager Nic Cuthbert said, who were still grappling with the flow-on effects of last February’s once-in-a-decade flood. “We surveyed our members in 2020 and there would be at best estimate 300-350 full-time equivalent jobs in Carnarvon to service the industry, from picking, planting, irrigation and spraying,” he said. “I would say we were probably short 30-40 per cent on that last year and we saw that reflected in increased prices for produce. “We’ve seen instances where bulk crops, like watermelons and pumpkins have been packed into bulk bins, but then they’ve been left in field as farmers have simply not had the workers. “Having spent the money seeding, tending the crop and getting it into production, to then have to leave it there . . . it’s damaging to their livelihood and I’d say their mental health as well. It’s not a scenario we want to see repeated.” And while the Federal Government will spend the next two months waiving visa fees for backpackers to get the “vital” demographic back on Australian shores, the industry has doubts it will “make much” of a difference. Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week invited backpackers and international students to “come on down,” after announcing their $600 visa fees would be waived. It will apply to the 23,500 backpackers and 150,000 students which had already lodged applications, as well as anyone who applies over the next eight weeks. The incentive comes as the country’s agricultural, tourism and hospitality industries grapple with unprecedented labour shortages, following the mass exodus of working holiday-makers from Australia in 2020 when the pandemic hit. Mr Cuthbert said he doubted the effectiveness of the measure. “I think that any initiative and measure to try and bring back the backpacker workforce will be beneficial to farmers,” he said. “But at the end of the day, is it going to make much impact? “I don’t think that few hundred dollars would be the difference between coming or not. “While our government undertook extraordinary measures to protect us, that’s not been without the perception that you can get stuck here or you’re already on your way here and might not be let in. I think there’d be other locations higher on their list.” The northern food bowl region is winding up its mango and grape seasons, with farmers set to sew capsicums, tomatoes, cucumbers, okra and chillies come March-April. Mr Cuthbert said they were not confident the depleted workforce would be bolstered ahead of the winter cropping season, calling efforts to get Aussies taking up roles on farms “lacklustre,” and saying locals “don’t want to do the work”. “COVID has presented some hard truths to the industry,” he said. “We rely hugely on a transient backpacker workforce. The Pacific Labour Scheme and Seasonal Worker Program were square plug to round hole fixes, for an industry that at it’s heart has a casual pool of workers.” National Farmer’s Foundation general manager workforce Ben Rogers said backpackers were a “key part” of the agriculture workforce, especially during the summer months when the horticulture and grain harvests were in full swing. “The Government decision to waive application fees will remove an obstacle and hopefully encourage more backpackers to choose Australia as their destination, as international borders open up,” he said. “Given the pandemic is ongoing and there are dire workforce shortages currently gripping the country, the NFF supports a further extension of visas for those backpackers already in Australia and working in agriculture and other vital industries.”