Backpackers shouldn’t be turned away
A LOT has been written in recent months about the threat Brexit poses to the country’s economy.
Farmers are worried about our exports to the continent and, of course, there are fears about the impact on farm support once we leave the EU.
Many in the industry are also concerned about what will happen to the free flow of workers who help out on farms.
Many farms rely heavily on youngsters from different parts of Europe to help pick and harvest our fruit and vegetables – and the farmers who grow these crops are worried about what will happen if restrictions are placed on who can come into the country.
While some of these working visitors settle down on these shores, for many it’s a holiday job which lets them see a different part of the world and, at the same time, put some money in their pockets before they go home.
Farmers in Australia faced a similar threat to their casual workforce, after their government proposed a 32.5% tax on money backpackers earned on farms.
Just as we rely on those who come from many different areas of Europe to help pick Scotland’s strawberries and rasps, to harvest cabbages, Brussels sprouts and all the other vegetables we buy in the supermarket, Australian farmers rely on similar groups of workers to pick their grapes, harvest their peaches and help out on sheep and cattle farms.
I’m not sure why it is, but while members of the younger generation are often criticised, however unjustly, for not being keen to knuckle down to fairly menial tasks at home, they often seem more than keen to do so when travelling abroad.
Many of these backpackers working in Oz are UK students on holiday or on a gap year.
And, while they might not be experts at the job, provided they are willing to learn, they can make enough to keep them going, picking up work for a few weeks or months as they travel around the country.
However, a huge increase in tax could have brought this to an end.
So it was good news for Australian farmers when the authorities revealed that they had changed their mind and cut the tax to 19%.
Many farmers will be hoping our own Government sees similar sense and allows the hard workers who help with our harvests to continue visiting.