Backpacker visa rules shake-up

THOUSANDS of extra backpackers will surge into Australia to pick fruit and tend animals under a Morrison government plan to fill “critical” worker shortages on farms.

But in a series of changes to the visa rules, the restriction forcing some backpackers to work in northern regions like Cairns to extend their visas will be dumped in favour of new guidelines allowing them to work in a wider range of regional areas in every part of the country.

Annual working holiday visa caps will be lifted, the age limit raised to 35 for some countries, and backpackers will be able to triple the length of their stay in Australia if they agree to an extra six months’ agricultural work.

Backpackers will no longer need to leave jobs every six months and also will be permitted to stay with the same employer for up to a year.

The Government has been under growing pressure to help farmers plug holes in their workforce after the Nationals failed to deliver a promised agriculture visa, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s plan to force dole recipients to pick fruit was dismissed by the industry.

Backpackers spent $920 million in regional areas last year, but the number of those willing to do farm work to get a second year in Australia has fallen by almost 30 per cent since 2013.

Nationals MP Keith Pitt had urged the Government to increase the number of backpackers and dump the northern Australia rule because it was crippling farms in his Bundaberg region.

The Prime Minister, who will announce the changes during a visit to a farm in southeast Queensland today, said that the aim was to deliver immediate help.

“Australians filling Australian jobs is my No.1 priority, but when this isn’t possible we need to ensure our farmers aren’t left high and dry with rotting crops, especially in the strawberry industry,” he said.