Islanders To Help Pick Fruit Crops

The Age

Wednesday November 26, 2008

Darren Gray, Rural Affairs Reporter

WORKERS from Papua New Guinea, Tonga and other Pacific countries could be picking fruit in Victoria early in the new year after the signing of international deals this week.

Only three farming areas in Australia, including Swan Hill and Robinvale, in north-western Victoria - have been selected for the Pacific seasonal worker pilot scheme.

The third is Griffith, in the NSW Riverina, where a vast amount of grapes are grown.

Farmers hope the workers will arrive from January, although many details such as accommodation and transport must be arranged first.

No starting date has been announced.

The deals end months of hope mixed with uncertainty for growers in Swan Hill. Some farmers raised concerns that this season's harvest had already begun and more pickers were needed.

A delegation of about 10 ministers and public servants from Pacific Island countries Kiribati, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu will travel to Swan Hill in two days for talks about the program, including meetings with representatives of the Swan Hill Rural City Council.

Swan Hill Mayor Gary Norton applauded the news.

"We reckon it's great. The sooner the better. We've got a lot of horticultural growers at the moment waiting for workers," he said.

"We need a good, reliable workforce for the picking. When the fruit is ready to be picked it's got to be picked that day, it's no good the next day."

The parliamentary secretary for Pacific Island affairs, Duncan Kerr, said up to 2500 workers would come to Australia for up to seven months a year under the program.

The National Farmers Federation has done a vast amount of lobbying for the scheme.

Federation president David Crombie said about 100 international workers would start within weeks. The horticulture industry had a nationwide shortage of 22,000 seasonal workers and the scheme was critical to ensure farmers kept producing food, he said.

"At present, in the Pacific Islands, we have a ready, willing and able workforce happy to make the trek into regional Australia to fill these positions. Australian farmers are ready to welcome them with open arms," he said.

The scheme, which will run for three years, was outlined on a Federal Government website yesterday. Labour market surveys were being done to determine whether areas in Queensland would be included.

An advisory body will be formed by the Federal Government in each trial area.

A labour hire company, or companies, will be hired to recruit and place the Pacific Island workers in jobs.