Australia’s food growers are sounding the alarm after the federal government confirmed a dramatic tightening of the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) scheme. Under reforms outlined by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on 19 September, second-year WHM visas will be capped at 45,000 places—down from 57,000 this year—while third-year renewals will be slashed to just 5,000. Applicants will also enter a ballot rather than receiving an automatic extension, ABC Rural reports. Backpackers on subclasses 417 and 462 supply roughly one in seven farm workers during peak harvest. Industry bodies fear the new ceiling collides with the mango, berry and summer-grain seasons, potentially leaving fruit to rot and tightening already stressed food-supply chains. Queensland Farmers’ Federation CEO Kylie Porter warned that a lottery system “places at risk Australia’s food security” and may deter applicants from committing to regional jobs. The government argues the caps are necessary to reduce net overseas migration and to steer farms toward more stable Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) workers. But academics such as Dr Kaya Barry of Griffith University note that small, family-run farms rely on highly mobile backpackers who can follow the harvest trail for short bursts—flexibility not offered by long-term PALM placements. Citrus Australia and Berries Australia say visa-processing backlogs have already blown out from days to three months, compounding shortages. Some growers are contemplating scaling back plantings or bringing forward the end of picking seasons, moves that could translate into higher supermarket prices over Christmas. One consolation is that agriculture will be listed as a priority sector under the new skilled-visa Directions 121 and 122, potentially opening a pathway for experienced machinery operators and agronomists. However, migration agents caution that employers cannot rely on that stream for entry-level harvest labour, and urge farms to intensify local recruitment and lobby for transitional arrangements.
Source: ABC News
