Comments

Best article. Well and clearly written for public consumption.

I would prefer if the seasonal workers in Australia and New Zealand from Fiji, Vanuatu and Timor-Leste (who are already working there from previous years) to continue work immediately while recruiting new people again later.

Thanks for keeping this discussion alive Richard. The inability to harvest crops this coming season will shortchange our farmers, pinch the budgets of consumers as prices of fruit and vegetables increase, and hurt the overall economy. Yes there are risks of spreading Covid-19, but this is from Australia to the islands. Samoa and Vanuatu are free of Covid-19, and it is them who need to make the call as to whether they want to continue with their participation. New Zealand has done better so no case for them to keep the workers from the islands out.

"with a strengthening of systems to prevent, detect, contain and treat the virus". What system? In Victoria none of these things were done. People were locked up in hotels but only casual students monitored this and they were free to do as they pleased. Then the BLM march. And the end of Ramadan and the Eid. Now Victoria has more cases than the whole of Australia did at the peak. And the borders to Victoria remained closed in both directions. Risk averse? Of course when a simple matter of monitoring hotels was done with unskilled people on casual jobs with no training at all and no supervision. The complaint now is that 40 aged care homes are infected and hundreds could die because the staff have only 7 weeks training. The staff who monitored the thousands of incoming passengers had no qualifications and no training at all. And there was no tender process and offers from the Army and the Police were refused. Why? Whatever happens in the rest of Australia, Victoria is worse off than in February and business is shut. Risk averse? Careless and utterly irresponsible government.

Once again Richard you have clearly articulated the significant issues we face in the Horticulture Industry. I've participated in three separate teleconferences in the last week with industry representatives and growers and it's clear, the imminent spring/summer harvest labour shortages is a massive and genuine concern for growers... around the country. As an Approved Employer, we are confronted by the brutal reality of what lies ahead. The actual facts of the situation are as follows; 1. Many Seasonal Workers who have had their stay in Australia extended are likely to want to leave when the borders open. They are fatigued, and want to be reunited with their families. 2. The numbers of backpackers still in the country has dropped by about 60,000 since the start of the year. 3. The Australian Government's propensity to expect Australians, who have been made redundant due to Covid-19, to travel to the regions and pick fruit is just, quite simply, totally unrealistic. In 15 years of being involved in Harvest Labour recruitment, the % of Australians who make up the seasonal harvest workforce, in the areas we operate in, is less than 10%. I cannot see this changing whilst payments are being made to people who are out of work. Financial incentives have been offered, in the past, to Australians to travel to regional areas to work in harvest and the outcomes have been completely underwhelming. In a nutshell, there are not enough Australians who want to pick fruit! 4. The most workable solution is for the government to open up the borders so we can bring in fresh Seasonal Workers ... in the same way Canada and Germany have done. This could be conducted in a very measured and safe way, ensuring the strictest Covid-19 health protocols are complied with. The horticulture workforce would be re-invigorated with fresh, experienced teams, many who have been coming to Australia for years and who are heavily relied upon by growers. What do Australian Primary Producers need to do to have our government respond appropriately? Instead, we are faced with the situation of the government hearing our concerns ... but not taking meaningful steps to remedy them?

Excellent article, thank you. Especially important to draw this all back to the way gender norms are constructed and understood by all people in society - it starts there and change needs to start there too.

What Richard could also write about is how there was an enormous covid outbreak amongst imported seasonal pickers in the UK. This was not unrelated to their living conditions. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-53420475. Another case of interest is a huge covid outbreak in a meat processing factory in NW Germany about a month ago. The staff were mainly Bulgarians and Romanians. Although the firm was very large, the staff were employed by sub-contractors and sub-contractors of sub-contractors. This made tracing even names of workers difficult. They, too, were living in unsanitary, barrack-like conditions. see https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-outbreak-closes-german-meat-packing-plant/a-53374478 Last, do not forget what was happening to clothing workers in Leicester, England. These were not classic seasonal workers, they were poorly paid (sub-minimum) people from the Indian sub-continent, probably speaking poor English. Their sickness created a local lockdown a month ago. see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-53100321

Some interesting points here although I think it is important to mention that at this point, Vanuatu (and I think Samoa?) has suspended its participation in labour mobility programmes as a sending country. However, this item relating to talks between Australia and Timor-Leste adds to what I have been saying for some time, which is that this needs to be a regional conversation with all participating as equals: http://www.tatoli.tl/en/2020/07/22/government-continuing-plans-to-send-600-workers-to-australia-with-the-added-cost-of-2-500-per-worker-for-quarantine-stay/

Juliet. Fair comment, we can only rely on analysis. Where do these figures come from & importantly who is collecting them & from whom are they being collected from. Short story company does covid temperature check on worker. 1.5 hrs later worker is at doctors in severe pain. Doctor says worker has severe temperature. Need to go to hospital. Worker taken to hospital admitted for emergency operation. Yet employer supervisor writes worker temperature normal. Did so for 4 days prior while worker said to my self I have been hot & cold for 5 days now. In my terminology that is called a fever. Hence my first & second sentence.

Juliet, many thanks for your comment. Our analysis is based on basic administrative data on approved employers. I have discussed the recent situation of seasonal workers in a 29 May blog 'How are seasonal workers in Australia faring behind closed borders?' https://devpolicy.org/how-are-seasonal-workers-in-australia-faring-behind-closed-borders-20200529/ From the feedback I have received, approved employers have made big efforts to support their workers, despite many feeling frustrated at the lack of support from government. Richard

I'm not sure that the larger contractors are that active here in the Goulburn Valley, the Pear and Apple growing region of Northern Victoria, however the growers in this area are very satisfied with the Seasonal workers that they employ. Somewhere around 100-200 workers come here from the Program directly employed by growers, who have built up relationships with their workers and are very pleased to have them come back on the 3 year 403 Visas. This would not be possible if there was Labour Hire Company involved telling the growers which workers they are allocated. It is of utmost importance to continue this program for eligible Approved employers Growers directly employing their selected workers.

One of the best blogs. Totally agree with Ms Milli. Best, Andy