Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, , 6:29:21 to 6:54:12
Senator Blyth challenges the government's plan to reduce working holiday maker numbers, citing concerns about labor shortages and food security in the agricultural sector.
Topics: Agricultural productivity, Food security, Workplace relations
Speakers: Unknown Speaker, Hon Murray Watt, Speaker 39, Hon Jonathon Duniam, Senator Jana Stewart
Thank you, Chair. Farmers and working holiday makers are being unfairly included in a political campaign to cut overseas migration. National agriculture organisations are telling me that they were not consulted ahead of this Labor government promising to cut the rates of working holiday makers, colloquially called backpackers by up to 50% over any three year period. What is the government's justification for applying that cut to backpackers?
I kick off and perhaps the officials can follow on. The starting point, Senator, is that our government acknowledges that the significant increase that we saw in migration overall to Australia post-COVID was simply unsustainable to continue at those kind of numbers. And that's why over the last couple of years, we've taken a range of measures, not all of which have been supported by various parties in the parliament, even those who call for migration numbers to be reduced. But we've undertaken a range of measures to reduce migration to a point where we now see the net overseas migration number being roughly half of what it was straight after COVID. Having said that, despite the measures that we've taken, the numbers, the overall migration numbers remain higher than what we believe is sustainable. They remain higher than the forecasts that we have given for net overseas migration. And that's why we've taken a decision to introduce additional measures to further reduce the migration numbers. Then becomes where do you make those reductions? Because there's a range of people out there who say that we should cut migration numbers, but the minute you say, okay, well, that means reducing these types of visa applications or these type of visa applications, then what do you know? People say, oh no, you can't touch that one, you can't touch that one, you can't touch that one, but we still want you to reduce migration numbers. That's not how it works. You've got to you've got to make the reduction somewhere. On working holiday makers, um the we currently have a record number of backpackers or working holiday makers in Australia. We have never had more than what we have at the moment. And to give you some sort of scale about that, um, in the 10 years before COVID, uh, the average number of working holiday makers in Australia was around 140,000. Um as at the 1st of September this year, it's over 211,000. So we see we've seen a 64% increase in the number of backpackers in Australia compared to what we saw pre-COVID. So it's not as if backpackers are the only group that we have made a decision to reduce the numbers of. You would be aware, I'm sure, about the reductions we've already imposed on international student numbers, and we've we've announced further reductions international student numbers. Um not everyone supports that either. But we do think that it's appropriate that, given we are seeing a record number of working holiday makers, 64 per cent higher than what we saw pre-COVID, that has got to be part of the solution. Um I'm I'm very well aware that there are agriculture groups, other groups in the community who don't support that. Um, but you can't say you're going to reduce migration overall without reducing migration numbers in in particular cohorts.
Thank you, Minister. So backpackers are tourists. They come here for a holiday with an intention to always go home and they work their way around the country on their holiday, filling regional jobs and returning to regional communities the money that they earn. I spoke to one of Tasmanian's largest potato farmers a few years ago, and I attended his farm. He produces 25,000 tons of potatoes every year, and at harvest season, 90% of the people who pull the potatoes out of the ground are backpackers. He assures me that following the promised imminent cuts to backpackers, more than half of his potatoes are going to be rotting in the ground. Now, going back to pre-COVID numbers, pre-COVID, our food production rate was $60 billion a year. Now, our food production rates are 101 billion dollars a year. The increase in backpackers is commensurate to the increase in food production in this country. And so if we cut our rates of backpackers back to pre-COVID levels, we are not supporting food security and food production in this country. Will the Federal Labor government consider pulling this bad idea on using backpackers and using our farmers to decrease overseas migration when these are people who are helping us, helping our farmers and who are always going to return home?
Well, a couple of things there, Senator. For starters, um, because of the free trade agreement that was signed between Australia and the UK by the former coalition government, it is not the case that every backpacker works their way around the country. Um there's no requirement for UK backpackers to serve out what's known as the 88 days that are required of backpackers from other countries in regional areas. Um that, of course, UK backpackers is a sizeable part of the overall backpacker numbers. Um I've I've also spent quite a lot of time on farms in Tasmania, particularly when I was the agriculture minister. I've actually seen for myself the very large numbers of Pacific workers who are employed on Tasmanian farms as they are on farms right across the country under the Palm scheme, a very successful scheme that delivers workers for Australia and delivers important income for people from Pacific countries. That option remains available to farmers to use workers from the Pacific without, and no change has been made to that under these recent announcements. We encourage farmers to make even more use of the Palm scheme than they are at the moment. There are, I'm sure the officials have the numbers, but there are tens of thousands of already cleared workers in the Pacific who are wanting to come here and work on Australian farms, and I'd encourage that farmer and farmers generally to make even greater use of that program.
Thank you, Minister. And they already do. The farmers who I speak to across Tasmania and across the country tell me they already do access and seek to further access that scheme. And so that's not going to help them feel what is, on my calculation, a shortfall of about 150,000 backpackers across the country that we need this summer to harvest our food out of the ground. How are you going to find that many Aussies to do that many jobs that our farmers will immediately need from once harvest commences this summer? And already backpackers have stopped coming here. Already some backpackers who have been here for one year are leaving farmers in Tasmania because they're too scared to pay a thousand dollars to take the risk, to go into a ballot. Now we're introducing our first visa lotto in this country to go into a ballot box and hope that their ticket will be pulled out so they have an opportunity to stay on for a second year. They're going home already. How are you going to help our farmers in this country to fill what's going to be an immediate urgent skill shortage ahead of the next half of the season?
Well, I'm not I can't remember what the position of the Greens political party is on migration numbers overall. But there is a widely accepted position, not just in this parliament but across the Australian community that the despite the efforts that we've made that the overall number of the net overseas migration figure remains too high. And as I say, if you accept that we need to reduce migration levels into Australia, then they've got to be reduced somewhere. And what we've tried to do is to reduce those numbers relatively evenly across a number of different programs. International students, working holiday makers, other categories as well. And if we say, oh well, we'll turn the we'll turn a blind eye to backpackers. That just means you have to cut even more deeply when it comes to international students or doctors or nurses or aged care workers. And I reckon you'd probably tell me that we need more of them as well. It's not a simple, it's not a simple solution. You can't you can't just say I'm going to cut migration numbers to 100,000 or 125,000 or whatever one nation's policy is today without saying the numbers have got to come from somewhere. And when it comes to agriculture, uh what I'm encouraging uh farmers to do is to make even greater use of the Palm scheme. Um it's a it it works for farmers all across the country, uh, and there are more Pacific workers who are keen to come here. Right now.
The Greens aren't joining Labour, Liberal and One Nation in a race to the bottom on migration. We are here to support our farmers, and we urge you to consider pulling the pin on this bad idea that is cutting the rates of backpackers. It will have a devastating impact on food security in this country.
Thank you very much for your assistance, Senator.
So I wanted to go back to the uh working holiday maker program and the setup of the balloting.