FRUSTRATION ON THE FARM
Long-stay backpackers compete for farm work with Australians made jobless by pandemic.
Every day for the past month, Ryan James has hit the phones from the Brisbane hostel he’s sharing with about 16 other backpackers, seeking a rural job in the midst of Australia’s coronavirus lockdown. But the young Briton has found “no farm work at all”.
James, 26, is competing with some of the 118,000 other working-holiday visa holders who aren’t able to access emergency government funds available to citizens, along with thousands of Australians left jobless after restaurants, cafes and pubs shut.
Backpackers will “end up getting scared off and not come back”, he said in a warning to the country’s A$48-billion (US$30 billion) agricultural industry. “When everything’s back to normal, they’re going to rely on us again.”
That could have lasting implications for Australia’s capacity to pick and process crops. While industry groups say there is anecdotal evidence of a surge in demand for farm work from locals as unemployment doubles to a forecast 10% this quarter, economist Saul Eslake said that post-lockdown the country will likely once again return to its traditional reliance on international arrivals, which could create a shortage of labour.
“Problems will arise when those who are here finally return home and aren’t replaced,” said Eslake.
“While the government’s position that the line on welfare needs to be drawn somewhere is understandable, it will probably be a factor that prospective backpackers will consider when deciding whether to come here in future.”
The challenge comes in the wake of a government misstep earlier this decade, when it announced it would replace a tax-free threshold for backpackers earning less than A$18,200 with a 32.5% levy on all their income. After intense lobbying from farmers concerned that a large swathe of the itinerant workforce would be removed, the rate was reduced to 15% and ultimately scrapped altogether.
Concern about the tax contributed to a 5% fall in working-holiday visa applications in the fiscal year following its announcement in May 2015 as the budget-travel community used social media platforms to warn against staying in Australia.
Similar advice now could be dire for farmers, especially with the global backpacker market already expected to contract significantly due to economic recessions and soaring airline fares.
“Seasonal labour is important to many parts of Australian agriculture and, if it’s not there, then that becomes significant down the track, particularly for horticulture,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agriculture strategy at
Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
The strenuous labour on Australian farms, which backpackers need to endure for at least three months of a typical two-year stay allowed under working-holiday visas, has become a rite of passage for young international travellers, while also becoming an important cog in the economy.
According to Tourism Australia, in 2016 working-holiday visa holders hailing from nations including the UK (18% of total arrivals), South Korea (11%) and Germany (10%) generated A$3.4 billion of revenue.
Now, international backpackers fear they will be overlooked by farmers due to fears they may be carrying the virus, especially after news bulletins showed youth hostel patrons ignoring social-distancing restrictions and partying at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has since insisted backpackers in cities must self-isolate for 14 days before they can travel to rural areas for work, yet that may not be possible in crowded hostels and dorms.
In a bid to addresses criticism that his fiscal aid packages had ignored working-holiday makers, Morrison’s government this month changed visa rules so working backpackers can extend their stay for as long as 12 months by working on farms.
The decision came after primary producers raised concerns that border lockdowns could threaten food security due to new restrictions on foreign labour with seasonal-workers visas, who typically hail from Pacific Islands nations.
One-third of peak seasonal farming jobs are usually filled by overseas workers, according to a 2018 survey of more than 2,400 farms released last year by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural &
Resource Economics & Sciences.
Still, the government has refused to give the more than 2 million temporary visa holders — who include working-holiday makers and foreign students — access to emergency welfare such as payments of A$1,500 a fortnight available to about 6 million Australian residents.
Morrison, whose government insists backpackers first prove they have at least A$5,000 in savings before they can receive a visa, has been blunt about what James and other budget travellers should do if they can’t find enough work to support themselves.
“Australia must focus on its citizens and its residents to ensure that we can maximise the economic supports that we have,” he told reporters on April 4. For those who can’t pay their own way, “there is the alternative for them to return to their home countries”, he said.
The demand has been criticised by some backpackers who either can’t afford the few expensive flights still available or are barred from entering their own locked-down nations. Still, governments including the US have repeatedly warned citizens they won’t be bailed out if stuck overseas.
Australian’s main opposition Labor party is calling for Morrison’s government to do more to support stranded working-holiday makers and other temporary visa holders.
“So long as this population remains in Australia, then they need to be supported,” Deputy Labor Leader Richard Marles told parliament April 8.
American backpacker Tia Fowler agrees. Speaking from a strawberry farm in tropical northeastern Queensland, she said she’s struggling to pay her rent just weeks after fleeing a tourist town on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef where she worked in a restaurant.
“It got so bad so quickly,” she said. Now, she’s only getting less than 20 hours of work a week planting fruit near Bundaberg, about 350 kilometres north of Brisbane, as she says the farm is crowded with too many workers.
“I understand I’m very lucky to have a farm job right now at all, but I am frustrated.”
“Australia must focus on its citizens and its residents to ensure that we can maximise the economic supports that we have”
SCOTT MORRISON
Australian prime minister