PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Mr CHESTER (Gippsland—Deputy Leader of the National Party) (17:06): I move: That this House: (1) acknowledges: (a) the vital and longstanding contribution of the agriculture sector to Australia's economy, food security and regional communities; and (b) the existing and significant workforce shortages already facing the sector; (2) notes that: (a) the Government has let migration get too high, but farmers and the agriculture workforce should not be made to carry the burden of fixing it; (b) Ministerial Direction 119 has, for the first time, placed agricultural skilled visas at the bottom of the visa priority list; (c) processing of Working Holiday Maker visas has been slowed with applications from 24 countries currently paused; (d) these changes were made without consultation with the agriculture sector; and (e) the agriculture sector is already facing rising input costs, biosecurity risks and increasing regulatory burden; and (3) urges the Government to: (a) immediately reverse the changes made under Ministerial Direction 119 as they apply to agricultural visas; (b) resume normal processing of Working Holiday Maker visa applications for all affected countries; and (c) guarantee that agricultural workforce visas will be prioritised in any future migration policy changes.
Farmers and regional small business owners are paying the price for Labor's incompetence when it comes to migration policy. On this side of the chamber we acknowledge the vital and longstanding contribution of the agriculture sector to Australia's economy, to our food security and to regional communities. We also recognise the existing and significant workforce shortages already facing this vital sector.
But Labor is just making it worse for Australian farmers. The reason we're moving this motion is that our farmers are now carrying the cost for the migration failures of the Albanese government and its ministers. There are two changes which are hitting the agriculture sector at once which will limit farmers' access to the workforce they need right before the harvest.
The immigration minister issued ministerial direction 119, effective on 25 July this year, which reordered the skilled visa queue. This introduced five priority tiers, with agriculture not among the nominated priority occupations. Subclass 482 visas, including the industry labour agreements such as the dairy industry labour agreement, are now the bottom two of five tiers.
This is the first time they've been ranked this way, and this applies retrospectively, meaning applications already lodged and waiting get reshuffled. Separately to this action, working holiday-maker visa processing has been slowed down, with applications from 24 countries currently paused. In Minister Burke's own words, applications are 'being processed more slowly than previously', with no further explanation given.
That's the important point. There was no consultation with the agriculture sector before either of these changes. Farmers have been blindsided from an out-of-touch Labor government that simply doesn't understand agriculture and simply doesn't understand the impact of the decisions they've made.
These changes are creating health and safety risks for our farmers and for the workers who are on farm who are juggling unsustainable workloads because they won't have access to the workforce they are expecting to arrive. And when the additional workforce doesn't arrive on farm, the slack is going to be picked up by everyone already there. Canberra bureaucrats and the ministers in this Labor government simply don't understand that harvest doesn't wait for a bureaucrat to process a visa form.
On this side of the chamber we do understand, because we've been approached by our farming lobby groups and individual farmers who are saying to us that the impact of these decisions won't just be on farm. It will flow on through the whole supply chain and will end up resulting in higher prices on supermarket shelves. This motion asks the government to reverse the changes, to resume the normal working holiday-maker processing and to guarantee agricultural workforce visas are prioritised in any future migration policy.
Because our farmers feed the country, and they deserve to be supported by decisions made in this place. There is plenty of support for the coalition's views on this matter. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO, Andrew McKellar, said: Go-slows in visa processing is terrible policy, unannounced delays put all the uncertainty on business compounding stress and making planning impossible.
The National Farmers' Federation President, Hamish McIntyre, said: Farmers are telling us workers they expected to arrive have not arrived, crops still need to be harvested, cows still need to be milked and the workload is being pushed onto fewer people. … … … If farms cannot access workers at the right time, the consequences do not stop at the farm gate. They flow through local businesses, regional economies, supply chains and ultimately all Australians at the checkout.
The CEO of the National Farmers' Federation, Mike Guerin, said: By restricting access to this workforce, the consequences don't stop at the farm gate. They are already being felt in regional communities and supply chains and before long, they will be felt at the checkout. … These changes are also creating health and safety risks for farmers and workers who are struggling with unsustainable workloads.
Finally, the Victorian Farmers Federation President, Ryan Milgate, said: This isn't a speculative issue. We're already hearing real world stories and concerns of workers and farmers trapped in limbo. Our farmers are very good at managing risk.
They manage the risk of seasonal conditions. They're managing the risks now of fuel and fertiliser prices. It's very hard to manage the risk of a government making stupid, ill-informed decisions which mean they can't access the workforce they need to provide the food, fibre and security our country demands.
The agricultural sector is dealing with this uncertainty every day, and the minister and the Prime Minister are simply paying no attention to the urgency of the issue. The last thing that our farmers need in these difficult times is more government incompetence when it comes to managing their workforce needs. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Aldred ): Is the motion seconded?
Dr Webster: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.