Hundreds of Pacific Islanders heading for Australia to pick fruit before produce rots on the vines with no backpackers arriving for a year
- 1200 South Pacific fruit pickers will arrive in South Australia in time for harvest
- The move comes as the SA government’s plan to hire unemployed locals failed
- Workers will spend two weeks in a quarantine facility in the Riverland at Paringa
- Due to Covid-19 and no backpackers there has been a shortage of fruit pickers
About 1,200 South Pacific fruit pickers are expected to arrive in South Australia to help fill critical shortages of seasonal agriculture workers.
This comes as the SA government’s attempts to encourage unemployed locals to take up fruit picking jobs failed to attract sufficient workers.
A regional Covid-19 quarantine facility has been set up to house the foreign workers in the Riverland at Paringa, about 270km east of Adelaide.
Pacific Island fruit pickers are being flown in to South Australia in time for the citrus fruit harvest
The workers will be transported directly from the Adelaide airport to Paringa where they will complete 14 days of quarantine before being eligible to work.
Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development David Basham said the state government had made significant efforts to employ unemployed locals.
‘Unfortunately not enough people have rallied to the call and foreign workers are now a critical need,’ he said on Sunday.
‘With citrus season fast approaching it is critical we deliver a safe solution to fill our seasonal worker shortages to ensure our state’s crops are harvested.’
About 200 workers are expected to arrive in the coming days, with 1,000 more set to fly in over the next few months.
With no international travel or backpackers there has been a critical shortage of fruit pickers
‘I know the stress that industry has been facing as the citrus harvest draws closer,’ Mr Basham said.
He said protecting the wider community from any risk was the primary focus of the facility.
A new cohort of fruit pickers is set to arrive each fortnight over the next three months under the Commonwealth Seasonal Worker Programme and Pacific Labour Scheme.
East Timorese people boarding a plane to work in Australia in December 2020
The $7 million program is jointly funded by the Marshall Liberal Government and industry.
More than 2,600 Pacific Island workers have come into Australia since the outbreak of Covid-19.
Other states to have had Pacific Islander workers include: Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Tasmania.
None have tested positive for coronavirus.
SA’s primary industries are worth $14.1 billion a year to the state economy.
Pacific Island fruit pickers are part of the Commonwealth Seasonal Worker Programme and Pacific Labour Scheme