Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about skills shortages in Australia, particularly shortages in agriculture. In my electorate of Nicholls sits one of Australia's great food bowls. Over 90 per cent of Australia's pears are grown in Nicholls. Our horticultural industry also produces a significant proportion of Australia's apples and many other fruits and vegetables. Dairy is another critical industry, which in Nicholls produces close to $1 billion worth of milk annually.

There are no second chances in agriculture. If cows can't be milked twice daily, there's no milk. If the fruit crop isn't harvested at optimal ripeness, it rots on the trees. Supply to the many food processors in Nicholls is dependent on our farms having ready access to willing workers to provide the raw materials.

There is growing concern and frustration in Nicholls about the scarcity of workers and the failure of the Labor government to act decisively. The farmers of Nicholls didn't need a skills summit; they didn't need hot air. They need workers, and they need them now. The Leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, attended the summit. He rolled up his sleeves, as he often does, and was constructive. I congratulate him for doing so. The Nationals were there because regional Australia needed a strong voice, and we are the strongest voice for regional Australia.

What were the immediate outcomes? A lift in the permanent migration program ceiling to 195,000 in 2022-23 will help ease widespread critical workforce shortages, with 9,000 additional places for the regions. But it is not enough. It's a drop in the ocean. I welcome the opportunity for more people to come to Australia and settle in the regions. Nicholls has a long and proud history of welcoming people from all parts of the globe. Migration is part of the success story in Nicholls, including in agriculture.

The downside post summit is that the jobs and skills needed in Nicholls are still needed today, in many cases desperately needed The Nationals have a solution: a dedicated agricultural visa. But, in its wisdom, the Albanese government has decided not to back it to the required extent.

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility—or PALM—scheme has been successful in providing seasonal workers in horticulture, but this does not appear to be a culturally appropriate fit for the dairy industry. Instead, the dairy industry must navigate the 482 temporary skill shortage visa and the designated area migration agreement for Nicholls, and both currently have shortcomings that need to be addressed. The 482 visa has no pathway to permanent residence for those employed on dairy farms, and, while workers from the Philippines are culturally suited to the dairy work and enjoy it and do very well at it, half of them fail the English test. Capable workers with functional spoken English and comprehension are being excluded based on written English skills, and employers are concerned the bar is set too high for the unskilled workers they require and would indeed welcome with open arms.

There is a pressing need for additional unskilled labour categories in the designated area migration agreement for dairy workers. This would allow dairies to train and upskill their own workers. The Age newspaper on 30 August carried the story of Nabi Baqiri, who estimates that he could employ another 50 workers on his Goulburn Valley orchards. He desperately needs those workers. Mr Baqiri said he arrived in Melbourne in 2004 and he struggled to find work, so he moved to Shepparton to pick fruit. This is a quote from Mr Baqiri:

I picked everything: pears, apples, peaches, nectarines, plums. There was no need for English or a drivers license.

This is typical of Nicholls, where agriculture creates opportunity—something I spoke passionately about in my maiden speech.

The Food Supply Chain Alliance calculated that the national food supply chain is short at least 172,000 workers from paddock to plate—172,000 workers that are needed to prevent prolonged higher food prices for consumers and reduced food availability that will continue through 2022 and beyond. This is an issue that impacts all Australians, not just the farmers who desperately need workers in order to harvest. Quite rightly, the Food Supply Chain Alliance determined that this is one of the few cost-of-living pressures that the government can influence, and it should be a priority.

Regional Australia can look forward to welcoming a wave of migrant workers from Vietnam, with the minister for agriculture confirming the government will honour the Australian agriculture visa agreement, an agreement put in place by the Nationals. The Nationals have been calling for further clarification on this arrangement, and it is pleasing that the minister has reaffirmed that the Vietnam agreement will be honoured. There remains an opportunity for more countries to participate in the visa, including the Philippines, which, as I said, is a preferred country for dairy farmers in Nicholls to recruit workers.

The Australian Workers Union ran a campaign against the ag visa. They talked of systematic exploitation and abuse of migrant workers on Australian farms, suggesting that exploitation has become part of the business model. Try telling that to Jon McKay from Rose Landscaping Services, who is currently setting up a new tree-growing operation in the heart of Nicholls. Just last week, I stood in the paddock with Jon, and he told me that his most valued employee is from Nepal. More than a decade since arriving as an unskilled migrant, that employee is now running part of the operation. The company is expanding, and it needs to recruit workers. They can't find them locally, and they're looking overseas, but the options are limited. They need an easier pathway. They need an ag visa.

The AWU scaremongering is equally hollow when you visit dairy farmers, where Filipino workers are not only employed on the farms but, along with their families, are embraced by the small towns, including Nathalia, where these communities are thriving. There is genuine concern in Nicholls that, without proactive changes specifically targeting the dairy sector, the workforce gaps will continue to widen, affecting productivity, economic output and exports. The Vietnam visa is a welcome step, but there is more that can and should be done to address the urgent workforce shortages in agriculture. We need an ag visa.