News

Harvest labour arriving at the end of the season

By Geoff Adams

Mar 22, 2021

The Victorian Government has announced the arrival of the first plane flights of Pacific island workers to help with the harvest- just in time for the end of the main Goulburn Valley fruit harvest.

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The first group of just over 100 people arrived in Tasmania on Sunday night and will now have to go into two weeks’ quarantine, meaning they will not become available to approved employers until April.

Victorian Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the arrival of these workers had been made possible through a strong collaboration between Victoria and Tasmania and was a great example of what could be achieved when states worked together.

“Bringing these workers into Victoria under the Pacific Mobility Schemes will ease some pressure for farmers – but it’s not a silver bullet. We need to keep working to encourage locals into these jobs – something that the Federal Government should play an active role in.”

Tonnes of Goulburn Valley fruit could not be harvested this season because of the shortage of international backpacker labour due to international travel restrictions, and the slow response of the states in making the programs available.

Growers have been forced to let some fruit fall to the ground, and in other cases the labour shortage has led to harvesting in less-than-optimum levels of maturity.

Grower groups including the VFF delivered warnings of the harvest labour shortage last year.

See today’s Country News for graphic evidence of wasted fruit due to the seasonal labour shortage.