Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

More than 85 per cent of Australians are now fully vaccinated. As we approach the end of the year, we do so poised to reach 90 per cent fully vaccinated before 2022 begins. Had anyone in this place suggested such an ambitious target 12 months ago they perhaps would have been doubted for good reason. Australians have banded together, supported each other and done the right thing to stop the spread and minimise the impact of COVID-19 on our health and our economy. As a result of Australians stepping up and getting vaccinated to reach almost 90 per cent, Australia is now reopening its international borders to vaccinated travellers as part of our step-by-step and safe reopening to the world.

Fully vaccinated Australians, permanent residents and their families have been able to return home since 1 November. On 21 November, Australians welcomed back fully vaccinated Singaporean travellers. From Wednesday this week, fully vaccinated international students, skilled migrants and refugee, humanitarian, temporary and provisional family visa holders will be able to travel to Australia without exemption. This is obviously music to my ears, particularly in my electorate of Barker, where employers rely so heavily on migration to fill labour shortages.

The strict border settings and travel restrictions have successfully shielded us from COVID-19 but have also prevented many critical offshore workers from travelling to Australia. Critical skills shortages and workforce gaps have emerged, hampering Australia's economic recovery. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of vacant jobs in my electorate. Employers are tearing their hair out, having to cut shifts and scale back the supply of goods and services as a result. There are jobs in industries and for roles such as aged care, disability care, child care, engineering, tradespeople, food processing, chefs and of course agriculture.

Unfortunately, the domestic workforce alone is not enough to address these skills shortages, because of mobility and geographic mismatches amongst, of course, other factors. Targeted migration is needed to fill the critical skills and labour gap shortages. Migration programs are secondary sources of labour. Employers in my electorate and indeed throughout Australia take an Australian-worker-first policy before filling gaps with backpackers, seasonal workers, skilled migrants or otherwise, all flown in from overseas.

Last summer a COVID-induced shortfall of well over 20,000 seasonal workers saw many growers in the horticultural sector turn off irrigation to crops, knowing full well they simply wouldn't have the workers needed to harvest their produce. Not only was that devastating for farmers; it threatened the entire supply chain. Without pickers, there's no need for truck drivers and wholesalers, and, ultimately, the decrease in supply pushed produce prices up at the check-out for consumers. Thankfully for the Riverland in my electorate of Barker, one of the nation's horticultural hotbeds, the South Australia government established a regional quarantine facility at Paringa, which enabled the arrival of seasonal and Pacific labour workers under the Seasonal Worker Program and Pacific Labour Scheme ahead of the 2021 citrus harvest. This initiative saw around 1,000 people enter the country and support the state's $277 million citrus industry to get the fruit off the trees and into our supermarkets.

While the horticultural sector was particularly vulnerable when international and domestic borders shut, so too were many other industries. The meat processing centre, the bumper grain harvest this year, the wool industry and regional hospitality and tourism businesses have all been hurting from the workforce challenges of our borders being shut. Our care sector in the regions also greatly benefited from skilled migration to fill staffing shortfalls in our hospitals, our aged-care settings and the disability support sector.

Our rural and regional communities will welcome the opening of international borders. The return of skilled workers and international students to Australia will further cement our economic recovery, providing the valuable workers our economy needs. As Australia transitions through the phases of the national plan, to transition Australia's national COVID-19 response economic migrants will fill urgent, temporary and skilled labour shortages, fulfil our international trade obligations and further support critical export industries to drive Australia's economic recovery from COVID-19.

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