DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL HEALTH
SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TOPICS: Working Holiday Makers, risk to harvest,  subclass 417 visa processing delays, Labor migration policy, visa overstayers, skills mix and migration priorities

Cenatiempo  

Our agricultural industry here in Australia, particularly horticultural, relies very heavily on backpackers at harvest time, or working holiday makers, as they call them. Now, I've often argued that the problem that we have is that neither side of politics actually talks about how to get Australians to do this work because we have somewhere in the vicinity of a million Australians out of work, but we never have a discussion about how to get those people to pick fruit and pick cotton and all of these other things. However, in the meantime, until we're ready to have that debate, well, then we certainly need these backpackers. But there's now been a delay in processing these working holiday maker subclass 417 visas, as they call them, which is putting farmers at risk ahead of harvest time. To talk to us about this, we're joined by Mallee-based MP and the Shadow Minister for Regional Health and Regional Communications, Dr. Anne Webster. Anne, good morning.

Webster  

Good morning to you, Stephen.

Cenatiempo  

We do need to have that debate one day about how we get unemployed Aussies to do this work. But until we're ready to have that, we  - well, particularly this time of the year, we - can't afford these delays.

Webster  

100 per cent we can't afford the delays. I have broadacre farming. Yes, horticulture is massively impacted as well, but we have broadacre farmers who use multi-million dollar pieces of equipment. You know, huge harvesters that they don't just give to Joe Blow down the street without really good training. So they bring in the same workers every year from the UK, from Ireland, from Canada, they rely on those workers. The workers love coming out, it's good pay. They get to have a holiday. It all works seamlessly, except that now we have Tony Burke has popped the brakes on these working holiday maker visa processes, which normally takes one day - one day! - for these people to come in on the department's own website. But now it has been 40 days and rising. The farmers themselves are very anxious that they will not have the workforce and therefore will not be able to harvest. They will lose $300,000 a day. They tell me in the broadacre harvest process that's serious money.

Cenatiempo  

It is extraordinary, but we're also coming into ... well. I mean, as we come into this summer, you know, we've got wine grape harvesting not that far away. We've got table grapes ... There's all sorts of harvest situations that use these workers, but what is the delay? Do we know what's causing this?

Webster  

I think: politics. Let's just put it down to one word: politics. Tony Burke. Let's remember that he was about to give a Press Club speech, and that was put off. He still hasn't given that speech, and they are very nervous about migration because, of course migration has surged under them. What they're not dealing with: over 77,000 overstayers that are in the country still. They don't have a plan. They're not fixing that. They have student visa numbers continuing. They say it's come down a bit. Well, you know, show us the evidenc .. oh, there's a thought. Why don't we have some transparency about all this, so we can actually know what's going on? The fact is that they've managed the whole detention and asylum seeker process really badly, and here we are with workforce we desperately need. And I noticed this morning-you probably saw it too - that the construction industry is also crying out for skilled workers to come in. I mean, this is just incompetence at best, and politics playing out so they can say, "Look, we've lowered the immigration numbers."

Cenatiempo  

And I'm glad we're having this conversation because far too much of the debate around immigration over the last couple of years has been about purely about numbers. We need to be talking about the mix. I mean, the numbers are, of course an issue, but we need to be bringing the right people into the country. And when we look at the number of tradies that we're bringing in, it's absolutely minuscule. But then we're bringing in, you know, I mean, I read somewhere dog walkers and karate instructors, and and and you know, I have no problem with bringing a karate instructor into the country, but as long as he's got another job.

Webster  

Well, and I think they're bringing in masseurs at last count, whatever that might actually account for. The problem is, you're right. It's about the mix, and it's about bringing in the people that we desperately need. You would think that Labor would be very motivated to bring in construction workers because they've got a housing target that they are absolutely not going to make. They say they've got enough people doing trade training and they've made it free and and so on. But the reality is that takes a period of time to actually come to fruition, so that you have tradies who can work on the job, and it's not enough, and it's a very slow process. And at the same time, they continue to increase student visas for people going to sandstone universities because it works for the bottom line, the budget for those sandstone universities. The mix is wrong, and the government are doing nothing about it, and you cannot help but feel that this is about politics.

Cenatiempo  

Yeah, well, I've often said that it's about, you know, I had this argument last week about multiculturalism and how it was originally designed for vote harvesting, not for social cohesion. But same thing here, Anne. Really, really good to talk to you. Appreciate your time.

Webster  

No worries at all. Thanks, Stephen.

Cenatiempo  

Dr. Anne Webster, the Shadow Minister for Regional Health and Regional Communications.

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