Thousands of backpackers are expected to arrive in Australia to harvest fruit and raise animals to fill a shortage of workers vital to farms, according to federal government plans.
Pacific islanders in seasonal jobs will also be allowed to stay for an additional three months as government tries to appease angry farmers who warn that many crops are rotten because they have no hands to pick.
Australia will lift the annual quota for working vacation visas and raise the age limit for applicants in some countries to 35, and as long as backpackers agree to work on farms for an additional six months. You can triple your stay in Australia.
With a series of changes to visa rules, backpackers will no longer have to leave every six months and can work with the same employer for up to a year.
A rule that would force some backpackers to work in northern Australia to extend visas would be lifted in support of guidelines that would allow them to work in a wider area of Australia.
After the National Party failed to deliver on its promise to issue specialized agricultural visas, the government is under increasing pressure to help farmers fill labour vacancies, and Prime Minister Morrison`s plan to force the unemployed to pick fruit has been rejected by the industry.
Backpackers spent nine hundred and nineteen million nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine yuan in rural areas last year, but the number of people willing to work in Australia`s second year of farming has fallen nearly 30 percent since 2013.
Northern Australia`s demands allow backpackers to work at bars in hot spots such as Keynes and Darwin to extend visas. These changes will enable them to work on farms in each state.
National MP Peter (Keith Pitt) has urged government to increase the number of backpackers and abandon the fixation in northern Australia because it is paralysing his farm in the Bundaberg region.
As part of encouraging farm work, Pacific Islanders will be able to work in Australia for nine months instead of the current six months. Employers` fees will be cut, seasonal workers will be forced to pay all travel costs other than 300 yuan instead of the current 500 yuan subsidy, and labour market tests will double to six months.
Morrison is also believed not to rule out an eventual agreement to introduce another special agricultural visa if these changes remain unable to fill the farm gap.
On Monday, the prime minister visited a farm in eastern Kunzhou and announced the changes, saying the aim was to provide immediate help to farmers.
"getting Australians to fill Australian jobs is my top priority, but if it`s not possible, we need to make sure that our farmers don`t suffer from crop decay, especially in the strawberry industry," Morrison said. We want more money in the farmers` pockets. "
Deputy Prime Minister McCormack (Michael McCormack), who has been pushing for agricultural visas, said the changes were a pragmatic solution to the labor shortage.
Lynch (Adrian Lynch), who employs backpackers and Pacific island workers on his Wellington Point farm, said they added semi-permanent staff during the busy winter months. "it`s good for both of us." He said。
