David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Braddon for his question. The member represents a very large and very powerful agricultural region in Tasmania and he, like many regional MPs, understands the increasing challenges on our agricultural workforce. That's why, just under 16 months ago, the federal government launched John Azarias's inquiry into a workforce strategy, to ensure that we understood the skills required by the agriculture sector in order to grow to $100 billion. It's important to acknowledge and understand that agriculture not only relies on skilled labour but also has a heavy reliance on seasonal labour, and that has shown vulnerabilities, particularly throughout COVID-19.

Previously the industry relied on backpackers, the working holiday-makers. There were over 140,000 of them here before COVID-19; now there are under 40,000. That's why the government has tried to work collaboratively with the states in making sure that we have solutions to meet those seasonal requirements in the here and now. In August we reopened the Pacific and seasonal worker programs, understanding that we could do that in a COVID-safe way. We opened up the opportunity for 25,000 pre-vetted men and women from 10 Pacific nations to come into this country and work in agriculture, because we identified agriculture as a critical industry. Unfortunately there have only been 2,600 that have come into the country. We are working collaboratively with the states and encouraging them to look for new ways to bring in these workers, as they continue to maintain the quarantine protocols. Pleasingly the Prime Minister took to cabinet, only in the last couple of weeks, a new initiative, whereby the Chief Medical Officer put to national cabinet to allow in-country quarantining for citizens of Vanuatu and Fiji. This is a new initiative, which is possible because of the work that we've done with our Pacific family. I'm proud to say that the South Australian government has taken that initiative up. We would encourage the other states to follow.

I also acknowledge the work that the South Australian government has done in the last couple of days in announcing a quarantine hub for agricultural workers. They are working to bring an additional 1,200 workers into South Australia, in addition to their normal caps. This is an example which other states can follow. The federal government stands ready to stamp the visas once the quarantine protocols from the states are agreed. They have the power. We have the ability to stamp the visas. We will continue to work with the states, through the Azarias report, in making sure we continue to build the skills but also protect the workers that come into this country so that people can take up the opportunity to be part of an agricultural industry that will reach $100 billion.

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