CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Ms PRICE (Durack) (16:56): The federal Labor government continues to abandon regional Western Australia. From Kellerberrin to Kununurra, hospitality businesses, farmers and tourism operators across Durack are being left waiting for the workers they need after the government slowed the processing of Working Holiday Maker visas. This is a crisis of Labor's making.
This program is a critical source of seasonal Labor, particularly during harvest periods, when farmers and growers rely on backpackers to fill these very important short-term roles. At the end of last year, more than 225,000 working holiday-makers were in Australia. This just demonstrates the scale of the workforce that our regional industries rely upon.
Sadly, the government's decision to slow the processing of these visas is yet another example of Labor prioritising politics over the livelihoods of regional Western Australians. Now, Labor would never choose to slow down international student visas, because that would have the impact of losing city votes. Instead, they target the regions, where the government is already unpopular, because Labor think they've got nothing to lose, but guess what.
My regional businesses have got everything to lose, so shame on Labor. Without the backpackers, who's going to pour the pints? Who's going to make the beds?
Who's going to make the flat whites? Sadly, these are jobs that Australians won't do. So we need Labor to have a heart.
Think about what's happening in these regional businesses. I call on the government to act now. In fact, I beg Minister Burke: do something now.
Please pull the plug and start processing those working holiday visa applications. Last month, I had the absolute pleasure to welcome the year 6 students from the Geraldton Grammar School here at Parliament House. We had a great discussion about what matters most to the people in Geraldton and to regional Western Australia.
I asked the students what they would do if they were Prime Minister for the day, and their answers were very thoughtful, including building more hospitals, making child care cheaper for families, providing shelter for the homeless, making insulin free for those who need it most, creating more fishing spots in Geraldton and—here's the one I love the best—building a jetty in Geraldton.
Other ideas that may prove to be a little bit more controversial included making pineapple on pizza illegal, cancelling homework, banning school uniforms and giving chocolate to everyone. Thank you to the students and the staff from Geraldton Grammar School for the visit. I am very hopeful for the future of Australia after our discussion, their questions and their ideas.
To the parents and carers of these students: you would have been so proud of them. They were so very respectful, inquisitive and very well mannered.