A North Queensland vegetable grower says she may not sow next year after making the "soul-destroying" decision to plough the last of her 2020 crop back into the ground.Growers are already experiencing hundreds of labour vacancies across the northern regionOne farmer says she will abandon plans to grow vegetables next year without secure labour supply
A forum in the nearby town of Ayr, 70 kilometres south-east of Townsville, heard the shortage would cut into local incomes next year. Farm lobby Growcom's Eilis Walker said the potential for massive crop losses could be an emergency situation. Farmer Chris Coyne said he understood the tropical heat made it difficult to work long days in the paddock and the answer might be in developing technology.
Industry has relied heavily on working holiday visa holders since 2006, when the second year visa scheme began, giving farmers in remote areas in particular few other options.
But they won’t employ Australians.
This is tragic. There are thousands of out of work people in the world who are willing to work and Australia couldn’t fill a few of planes with workers on special visas?
From reading comments here what I understand is the Australian consumer wants to pay as little as possible so the supermarket wants to pay as little as possible so the farmer has to pay as little as possible to have the crop picked.
Pay better wages. Works every time.
So your greed got the better of you. You cries are bc your million dollar profits are not as good as last year's rorts
Are these the same growers that won't hire Australians because it is easier to exploit foreigners & won't hire anyone who refuses to live in the local youth hostel, or are they different ones?
Can I bring my own accommodation?
Every industry in Australia depends on foreigners to operate. For the past 10 yrs I have seen priority given to the young backpacker holiday people in FNQ. Yet there is still people placed into Work for the Dole projects. 50hrs/Fortnight 52 weeks each yr. So who's lazy now.
Could you please fucking stop with this bullshit?
This would all change if we elected the The_Nationals to form federal Government....
Now that their annual import of slave labour has dried up, the agricultural industry is finally shown as the house of cards it is.
Pay them. You want workers. Pay them. Supply and demand.
Now you know how the US cotton industry felt in the 1860s when they lost their slaves. Automate, overpay wages or piece rates, or perish.
We don't harvest wheat by hand any more, or carrots or potatoes or sweet corn or grapes. Develop machinery and stop relying on tax free cheap labour.
Can't help but laugh. So many farmers have shunned local workers for years. Something about chickens coming home to roost.
Lmao sucked in
Well perhaps they should pay proper wages and decent conditions and stop using unscrupulous third party hiring companies.
ABC staff, found your next job.
Australians are not mugs. Pay a decent wage and they will come. I am happy to pay an extra 50c a kilo if it means that aussies are doing the work and are well paid to do so.
Food security should be a federal concern! If this industry, over the decades has been run by corporations that have broken the whole industries supply chain. We need to remove them and step in and fix it!
Why don’t the farmers get out there and pick it themselves
Maybe The Nationals will help the farmers 🤷🏼♂️
Pay a decent wage and people will come. It’s just not worth it.
After years of seeing four corners etc expose conditions you can understand people's reluctance. How about another in depth reporting of conditions, expenses, and likely pay showing mode not mean, how people were recruited prior to Covid. Safe work practices etc.
Why did Covid policy get left out of this headline? This is the real and lasting effect of Lockdowns. Productivity has been sacrificed by government plebs who do not produce
I’m sure they could attract workers if they paid them properly.
Maybe paying a decent wage and not exploiting vulnerable and desperate workers would be a good strategy. Maybe all thos LNP politicians doing absolutely nothing for their pay could you out and actually do some work.
getting a bit bored of these 'the government stole our slaves!' articles. Perhaps start publishing the offered rates of pay and conditions, at least, so readers can judge who's taking the piss.
All crying about the pay rate but same the people be crying when when their vegetables and fruit prices go up. Most countries are having trouble getting fruits and vegetables pick and few have said at the rate that it's being plough in they will have a food storage later auspol
Offer a lot more than a dollar a day and you’ll have more pickers than you need.
Why do farmers choose crops that can't be mechanically harvested?
Imagine if they just offered a fair day's pay for a fair day's work
Someone should tell the farmers and their labour hire companies that slavery was abolished in 1901. After reading some of the horror stories about how people are exploited and robbed, no wonder no-one wants to work for many of them.
Federal Government failure to modify unemployment system so people can work these short term jobs, then have to wait to get back on dole.
Then pay more
Littleproud is willing to be exploitated
They can't be that desperate., I've offered to work the Harvest for $50 per hour.,.... so far no takers.!
Don't 'plead' for workers. Offer them money. Simple really.
Well pay them , award wages , not cash in hand ,at slave labour rates
Pay a decent wage!
screwed now you cant treat backpackers like 3rd world factory workers
Try paying them.
In a free market, growers need to increase the pay they are offering. Isn’t that how this neocon crap is supposed to work? Stop paying slave wages and you’ll get workers
Stop offering terrible wages and conditions
What is the pay rate?
But are they offering pay and conditions that will attract workers?
Then stop reliance on an underpaid transient workforce who are employed in sub-par conditions.
pleading for slaves..
Every year Coal & Wollies turn in massive profits while the people doing the work get paid pittance. If we paid these people a decent wage this wouldn't be happening, we would have thriving rural communities and not all the $s going to Big Corporations & cities
Should Palaszczuk fluke re-election she will be screaming Greedy Farmers or transport companies when PRICES RISE.The problem is a direct result of QldLabour’s ILLOGICAL border closure.If fruit & veggie pickers CANNOT ACCESS the state how does fair priced produce get to market ?
Well the government bring in rules that will allow people to break lease agreements to go get these jobs? Will the government allow children to be out of school for a little period of time so parents can move for these jobs? Will the government offer interest free loans for 1/2
Get the wa hard borderremoved
What the federal government doing ... zilch ... more concerned about Cartier watches lol .. couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery...
Surely theres plenty of illegal overstaying Malaysians Vietnamese and non bona fide protection visa applicants dodgy labour hire intermediaries can find?
Ask Scomo why?
slave work growers should do it themselves
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