Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to offer my support to this motion moved by the member for Nicholls. Along with Nicholls, my electorate of Mallee is a leading producer of horticultural products. The north-west and South Australian region, which almost entirely encompasses Mallee, produces 100 per cent of the almonds grown in Victoria, with a gross value of over $480 million in 2019. We also produce 99 per cent of Victoria's table grapes, valued at $347 million; 98 per cent of Victoria's oranges, valued at $66 million; and 62 per cent of Victoria's nectarines, valued at $59 million.

Many of the horticultural products produced in Mallee and around the country are highly labour intensive, and the sector is dependent on overseas workers to get their products to our plates. Growers in both Mallee and Nicholls as well as many other regions in Australia are currently staring down the barrel of massive losses due to a lack of workers. I've spoken to several growers who are worried that their fruit is going to fall to the ground. Many have already made the heartbreaking decision to plough their entire crop into the ground. One such farmer in Lake Boga, in my electorate, is Ian McAlister, who aimed to pull off a fabulous crop but is down 25 to 30 workers. Shockingly, he had to plough in his entire peach crop valued at $300,000.

Recently I met with young innovators and farmers, Dean Morpeth and Mick Young, creators of SHARP Fruit, in Woorinen, at their packing sheds. I was so impressed with their set-up and the workers who were packing the most beautiful fruit. They are currently over 20 workers short. Normally they would employ well over 60 people but this year they are down to just 40. They've had to shut down an entire packing line. This is lost revenue for the entire district. If producers can't sell their fruit and it can't be packed and sent in a timely manner, they lose it. This has a flow-on effect for all of our towns—the cafes and the other businesses. Mick and Dean expect next year to be worse if international borders don't open, as more people on working holiday-maker visas are forced to return to their home countries. I've also met with Darren Minter of Minter Magic, in Iraak. Minter Magic is famous for asparagus. I can tell you firsthand the asparagus is amazing. But asparagus is incredibly labour intensive also. Darren can see the writing on the wall and so is transitioning away from asparagus and into less labour-intensive crops, such as almonds.

These decisions are facing many producers around the country. A report by consultancy firm EY released in September last year painted a grim picture of expected workforce shortages. The analysis showed that industry could expect a shortfall of up to 26,000 workers between June 2020 and December 2021. This translates to a net gap of 20 per cent to 33 per cent over an 18-month period. Consequently, the horticulture industry has suffered greatly.

In August 2020 the Commonwealth and state governments, through the national cabinet, entered into an agreement to restart the Seasonal Worker Program. As mentioned in the terms of this motion, the Commonwealth has worked with partner nations to develop a pool of 20,000 pre-vetted work-ready Pacific Islanders who are eager to come to Australia to help with the harvests around the nation. It is the responsibility of each state and territory government to put in place arrangements for managing the arrival of workers, consistent with their respective public health orders and within their caps on international arrivals.

Unfortunately for the horticulture industry in Victoria, the Andrews Labor government has failed to implement adequate quarantine measures in a timely manner and therefore to provide workers to farms. While the Andrews government has entered an agreement with the Tasmanian government to quarantine 1,500 seasonal workers in Tasmania, this measure does not meet the demand for Victoria's growers and comes too late for too many. Clearly COVID-19 has made it more difficult to find workers, but these challenges have existed for many years, prior to the pandemic, and will persist into the future.

Providing growers with better access to legal, sustainable sources of low- and semi-skilled workers for seasonal work is something I am passionate about. That's why I recently produced a policy document on seasonal workforce to take to the Nationals policy committee. The COVID-19 pandemic provides the perfect opportunity to act on this urgent issue in order to secure the future of this vibrant industry.

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