Australian Immigration: Seasonal Guest Worker Visa to Curb Farm Labour Shortages
18/08/2008 by Tamar Blieden
The horticulture and agriculture industry is at the core of Australia's economic success. However in order for this to continue, foreign workers must be brought in to relieve the ever-growing labour shortage. And according to the government, foreign seasonal workers from the Pacific Islands are the solution.
As much as AUS$700 000 worth of fresh produce is expected to be lost each year due to labour shortages and a lack of local workers. "For too long Australian farmers have become sick to death of watching their own fruit rotting on the vine because they couldn't get a worker to pick the fruit," said Tony Burke, Australia's minister of agriculture.
Therefore the Rudd government has turned to workers from Tonga, Vanuata, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea to come and work on the farms for up to seven months within a year. These workers will be required to return home after visa expiry and will be unable to bring family members with them.
The seasonal guest worker scheme will make 2 500 visas available for unskilled workers from the Pacific Islands under a three year pilot program. These workers will come to harvest fruit and vegetables. This is according to Burke who announced yesterday that the first group of seasonal workers are expected to arrive in the country later this year.
This is a historic move away from Australia's traditional immigration policy that focused on permanent immigration options. It is believed that such a temporary scheme will be an effective way to ease crippling agricultural work shortages. It will also contribute to the economy of Australia and the pockets of foreign workers who will send money home.
According to the World Bank, guest workers could add AUS$400 million to Australia's GDP a year. On the other hand foreign skills, training and money will be boosted via such a scheme.
This program has however raised some concerns in relation to worker exploitation. This has resulted in the government maintaining the need for regulation in terms of equal pay with locals. Burke has therefore insisted that this is not a "cheap labour" option, but essential to stop the labour crisis.
Anxiety over guest workers replacing the existing workforce is also rampant; however the government are adamant that foreign workers will only be employed if local workers are unavailable.
Swan Hill in Victoria and Griffith in New South Wales are the initial regions where this scheme is believed to be introduced.
USA
UK
Australia
Canada
South Africa
New Zealand
Ireland
India
China
Philippines