Australian farm worker crisis deepens as lockdowns drag on

CANBERRA - With more than half of Australia’s population currently in lockdown due to outbreaks of the Delta Covid-19 strain, tight rules on movement and state border closures are posing serious challenges for the A$66 billion agriculture industry for the second year in a row.

Already facing a labour shortage due to border closures to international visitors, further restrictions on inter-state travel will obstruct the flow of contract workers who follow the summer harvest cycle, which is due to start in Queensland before progressing down to Victoria.

Industry groups fear that the challenges could derail what is tipped to be another stellar crop this season, with Australia expected to produce 54.8 million tons of winter grains, about a third above the tenyear average to 2020/21.

"Australia has long relied on foreign labourers in its agriculture industry to compensate for its shrinking and ageing workforce. The federal government has attempted to plug labour gaps over the course of the pandemic by organising chartered planes to fly workers from Pacific island nations in pilot programmes, but the numbers are nowhere near the level needed to fill the estimated monthly shortfall of up to 24 000 this summer, according to Ernst & Young LLP.

Canberra said last month it would start offering agricultural visas to overseas workers over the next three years, but with little information on which partner countries are involved and how the programme will work with the current caps on international arrivals, it may not be enough to address the immediate shortages.–