Damian Drum (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

For the past 10 months it has become apparent there's going to be a shortage of overseas labour available in Australia for fruit picking this summer. This work is usually done by backpackers and Pacific islanders. The industry has been warning all state governments that, without any new backpackers coming to Australia, state governments are going to have to be proactive in putting in place their respective protocols around the countries of origin that these workers will come from, the flights, the quarantine arrangements, the accommodation and the general movement of these workers while they're in Australia. The Northern Territory moved months ago to bring in Pacific islanders to get the mangos harvested. The Queensland government brought in Pacific islanders to pick fruit and it put in place a quarantining-on-farm protocol to enable the fruit to be picked immediately. The federal government assisted and facilitated all of these movements.

The Victorian Premier acknowledged on 11 December that Victoria needed 15,000 to 20,000 workers, yet he has still failed to act. The consequences of this inaction will see a state-government-created disaster within the fruit industry. There is fruit falling and rotting on the ground as we speak. How Daniel Andrews brings in tennis players and their entourages from countries that are rife with the virus while at the same time not being prepared to assist bringing in workers from countries that are clear of the virus shows his utter contempt for the fruit industry. Daniel Andrews will own the consequences of his inaction, and I don't think he's going to be able to blame this disaster on a 'creeping assumption'. (Time expired)

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