Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to kick off by giving the House an anecdote from a recent trip out to a mango farm with the former shadow minister for agriculture. When we spoke with mango farmers, the same grievances that had been made exactly four years earlier were being discussed by those farmers. I think it's important for those listening today to hear that in order to appreciate the context that we're dealing with. This government is in its eighth year. The Nationals are part of this government. Four years with absolutely no action for those mango farmers left them in a situation, when COVID hit, where they didn't have anyone to pick their crop. Farmers are still waiting. I join with the shadow member for agriculture, the member for Chifley, in saying that we need to see some more action out of the minister for agriculture. We really do. It's not good enough for him to get up in question time and flap his gums, saying things that are vaguely relevant to the question asked or talking about what commitments have been made, when there has been little to no follow through.

Turning to the Working Holiday Maker program, I'm pleased to speak to this important issue once again. I did speak to it following the release of the inquiry's interim report, and I'm speaking again because it's incredibly important to the highly valuable sectors of our economy, like tourism, health care and, of course, agriculture. This was a timely inquiry, given COVID-19's effect on disrupting the access of our farmers and our other industries to the workforce. There was also an important question about the possibility of the Australians that have become unemployed during COVID-19 filling those labour shortages. That's something that I'm very supportive of, and that was covered by this inquiry and its report. I also want to acknowledge the commentary made previously by the member for Bruce. He is certainly a passionate advocate for those who want to work. Another important question is whether existing visa criteria and conditions related to working holiday-makers are still adequate and appropriate to address the purpose of this program. For our regions—and I come from one of those regions, from the Top End of Australia—it's absolutely vital to find ways for this Working Holiday Maker program to support economic recovery in parts of our country like the Top End. I won't go through all the policy recommendations in the report, but I will highlight a couple that are particularly relevant for my electorate.

As well as those recommendations, I also want to note that the interim report had recommended that the government develop a 'Have a Gap Year at Home' campaign. I've spoken about that in the past. I very much encourage young Australians, if they find themselves without work or wanting to have a break before continuing on to studies, to get out into regional Australia and have a crack at some of the work that's available out there. You'll be surprised at how much you will enjoy it. I believe that working out in regional Australia can bring character to young Australians. It's a character-building experience when you see a bit of our magnificent country that you might not otherwise see if you spend your life confined to the suburbs of our major cities.

Strengthening this sentiment in younger Australians will I believe teach them resilience, discipline and a little bit more of the social cohesion that we will need more and more of into the future. Our nation will be faced with greater challenges than COVID into the future. The only way that we're going to be able to meet those challenges is through the character-building that will come from not just the example that I've given but a deeper appreciation of the need for social cohesion in our country—that we support each other in the ways that we have always talked about as Australians when met with challenges.

Some implications for the Northern Territory—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:57 to 17:22

The Northern Territory implications is where I left off. I'm very supportive of a few of the recommendations and, in particular, recommendation 4 from the report, which recommends the government:

… review the definition of 'regional' for the purposes of migration with a view to providing a new tiered definition that recognises:

From our perspective in Darwin and the Top End, I remember when they said that all of a sudden the greater Gold Coast area was regional and potentially could go into a different category. The effect on us in Darwin was that many of our skilled restaurant workers, chefs and so forth then headed for the Gold Coast. That is not really supporting regional Australia in my view, so I welcome that recommendation. Smaller state capital cities like Darwin are different from Sydney and Melbourne, and in important ways we play a very special but different role in our nation's economy and security.

I'm also glad that recommendation 8's implementation would extend the northern Australia visa provision, allowing work in hospitality, tourism and other industries to apply in all regional, rural and remote areas. This is vitally important to our NT growers. As I speak, hundreds of workers from Vanuatu are literally saving the mango harvest in the Northern Territory, which is valued at over $128 million. They're so industrious and helpful that they'll move onto new farms and new crops and make a great contribution. They'll then take some of the fruits of their endeavours back home. To give you an idea of how great the demand for agricultural producers in the NT is, the local mango industry footed the half-a-million-dollar bill to charter these Vanuatu workers to Darwin. That's how important the workforce is. I take this opportunity to say to those workers, our Pacific friends and neighbours: thank you. On behalf of all Territorians, tangkiu tumas.

Programs like the Seasonal Worker Program and the Pacific Labour Scheme are popular among all stakeholders. In the first instance, Australian farmers need practical solutions to chronic skill labour shortages, particularly in agriculture. Earlier I relayed the somewhat disappointing story of when I recently visited a mango farm with the shadow minister for agriculture. Four years earlier we had visited the same farm, when they had complained about the same workforce issues, and nothing has been done in four years.

This report is timely, with COVID making the workforce issue even more critical. We need to look at what we can do to fix it, but it would be good to see some action. I'm also proud to have been involved in helping to facilitate the discussions between the government of Timor-Leste and the government of the Northern Territory. In the Northern Territory, we had seasonal workers from Timor-Leste, and we look forward to them returning. They're very welcome. They're great people. They're great workers. We must have more focus on this area. I know, Deputy Speaker Rick Wilson, that this is something that you're passionate about as well.

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