The National Farmers’ Federation’s Horticulture Council and Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell have welcomed changes to the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.
Mr Birrell said Goulburn Valley fruit and vegetable growers would also welcome the changes, while the NFF said the changes would go a long way to ensuring PALM remains an accessible and viable workforce option for Australian farmers.
The change means from July 1, employers of short-term workers will be required to offer 120 hours of work over four weeks, rather than 30 hours each and every week as had been planned.
Mr Birrell said forcing employers to pay workers a minimum of 30 hours a week, every week, completely disregarded the seasonal nature of the work.
He said PALM workers from nine Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste were a vital part of Australia’s ag industry and economy, and the program was hugely popular because of the money that ends up back in their own domestic market, and the skills learnt while here.
NFF Horticulture Council chair Jolyon Burnett said industry was encouraged the Albanese Government had heeded advice that the original settings would result in fewer employers engaging with PALM and fewer workers from the Pacific able to benefit from the opportunity of earning great wages in Australia.
“Business confidence in horticulture is at a low ebb right now, and a lot of that has got to do with a lack of certainty in our workforce options,” Mr Burnett said.
“The announced improvements will be a real shot in the arm for employers in the sector, and especially for those who have made significant accommodation and other capital investments to meet scheme requirements.
“We congratulate the government on this improvement to the PALM scheme and ask that we now take a long-term view of building a workforce for the horticulture industry that is secure, reliable and productive, with a more balanced mix of labour sources.”
Mr Birrell said the Albanese Government now needed to listen to the industry’s demands for a specific agriculture visa.
“PALM is a valuable and mutually beneficial scheme, but it can’t deliver more than 100,000 additional workers needed in agriculture,” he said.
“A specific ag visa, as proposed by the Nationals, is still desperately needed.”