00:01The current government have slowed up visas at exactly the time that agriculture most
00:07needs them.
00:08And I'll give you some examples of that, but we know from COVID that will lift fresh fruit
00:13and veggie costs for consumers by between 15 and 25%.
00:18The current government have imposed that on agriculture without notice and without consultation
00:23since July of this year.
00:25That is deeply concerning, deeply concerning for fresh fruit and veggie growers who are
00:29trying to harvest crops right now, deeply concerning for the dairy industry, for example, where
00:34they're at the peak of their season and desperately in need of those skilled workers.
00:38And for example, really concerning for the grains industry, where we're a few weeks away
00:42from starting a grains harvest, which relies on and has always relied on skilled overseas
00:46migration.
00:47So firstly, we acknowledge One Nation for carving out the working holiday maker and skilled visa
00:55schemes needed to keep agriculture going.
00:57And we call on the government to reverse its slowdown.
01:00The cost for every Australian, the cost for food and groceries and supermarket shelves will
01:05lift significantly if the current slowdown in skilled migration visas and working holiday
01:11makers and palm school workers is not reversed and reversed urgently.
01:16And that's the biggest and most immediate concern for agriculture and regional communities.
01:20We understand that the One Nation policy announced this morning has a carve out for agriculture
01:25and for regional communities, that it acknowledges that working holiday makers, that the palm scheme
01:31and skilled visas are critical to agriculture in this country and indeed have been for some
01:36years.
01:37Some one in seven of our workers in agriculture come from overseas in one form or another.
01:42And our understanding, the One Nation announcement this morning is as a carve out for that, should
01:47that be true, then Australian consumers don't need to be concerned about a 15 to 25% lift in
01:53the cost of their food.
01:54And regional Australia don't need to be concerned about ensuring we have the workers in place
01:59to do the work we need done to ensure our ongoing food security.
02:03That's the most immediate concern.
02:05And the announcement this morning appears to us to have acknowledged that, and we asked
02:10the government and we asked the other major parties to also acknowledge and to carve out
02:14those critical elements to keeping the cost of our food down, keeping that food security
02:19in our supermarkets and keeping every Australian confident that that food security we've taken
02:24for granted for generations remains in place.
02:26In the dairy industry, we're at the peak season at the moment and we have family farmers working
02:33up to 20 hours a day because they don't have the skilled workers needed as they go through
02:37this part of this season.
02:39So they are protecting animal welfare by looking after cows that have just carved and young
02:45calves.
02:46By doing up to 20 hours a day, it is a work health and safety issue.
02:49It is having an enormous mental impact on farming families.
02:54And visas that they've applied for up to several months ago remain in limbo given the slowdown
02:59that the current government has put in place.
03:02Take the grains industry.
03:04We have a wonderful grains harvest coming up in Australia.
03:06We produce a lot of grain, both for domestic needs and also for export earnings.
03:11We are weeks away from starting that harvest without enough people to drive the machinery,
03:16without enough skilled migrants, which we get from places like Europe, to ensure we harvest
03:21that crop.
03:22So farmers are struggling to understand how they'll harvest that crop.
03:28Australia and regional communities are looking down the barrel of lost export earnings.
03:32And there are a couple of examples.
03:34There are many others.
03:35Fruit and veggie growers rely on working holiday makers, on backpackers doing work that Australians,
03:42we can't find Australians to do.
03:43And that gives us food security.
03:45There are many examples.
03:46The frustration from our side is that the government slowed down these visa applications
03:51in July without consultation and without notice.
03:54We found out after the fact, family farms are suffering, regional communities are suffering,
04:00and soon every Australian will be seeing lift in the cost of their food due to this slowdown
04:05in visas from the current government.
04:07And as I said, if the announcement is correct, one nation's policy acknowledges that and carves
04:13it out to give us that ongoing confidence and regional communities the confidence they need.
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