Farmers struggling
SOUTHERN Downs farmers have been forced to grind productions to a halt with agriculture workers left in limbo and unable to move across borders.
Taylor Family Produce and Poole’s Produce are two local family businesses affected by the recent border closures between Queensland and New South Wales.
Current state government restrictions imposed at 8pm Sunday stated that only essential workers, not including agriculture workers, were able to move between the two states.
Taylor Family Produce owner Ray Taylor said he was forced to keep 10 of his farmhand workforce at home as they were unable to cross the border to work on the family’s Liston farm.
“We can’t keep production going, it’s breaking the production cycle for our growing,” he said.
Mr Taylor said any longer than one day without production would cause major issues within the business, especially for his suppliers.
“We will have to redirect business in the short-term, but it will cause a three or fourweek delay if it continues on,” he said.
Mr Taylor said the state government’s lack of consideration for agricultural workers and their exemptions was concerning, with this uncertainty an ongoing issues each time there is a border closure.
“What’s annoyed me is the government have had no consultations with us,” he said.
“If they’re going to put mandates in place they need to have procedures so we can still run our businesses.
“This is not the first time, there has been quite a few (occasions).
“It’s just like a Bandaid fix afterwards with no solution to the problem before.”
A Poole’s Produce spokeswoman said two of their farmers had been unable to come into the state from NSW to complete daily duties on the Elbow Valley family farm.
Member for Southern Downs James Lister said he had spoken to many families, workers, farmers and small businesses in the community who were “hit hard” by the border closures.