Workers can pocket $400 a day for just six hours of work – but Aussies are still turning their backs on this crucial and lucrative job.
Australia’s cost of living crisis is hitting many families hard – but there’s a lucrative, $2000-a-week job workers are turning their backs on.
Earlier this week, Nationals MP Anne Webster took to Facebook to share a passionate plea for the nation’s citrus growers, who are facing a critical shortage of workers.
Posting a picture of healthy orange trees laden with fruit, she pointed out that while the scene appeared to be “incredibly productive”, it was in fact a “tragedy in the making”.
That’s because at the moment, there are not enough workers available to pick this season’s bumper crops, leaving the ripe fruit to simply rot away on the ground.
Dr Webster, who holds the regional Victorian seat of Mallee in the state’s northwest, explained that the problem could end up costing millions.
“Citrus growers here in Sunraysia are faced with wonderful crops and a healthy export market (despite global shipping constraints), but there is one critical ingredient missing: workers,” she posted.
“Citrus pickers can currently earn $400 per day, working 10.30-4.30pm. That is $2000 per week.
“But there are so few workers these crops are at risk of falling to the ground. The citrus industry is worth $520 million. If it falls to the ground it is worth zero.”
An MP has shared her heartbreak over a $2000-per-week Aussies don't want. Picture: Facebook/Anne Webster MP
Dr Webster’s post attracted thousands of likes, shares and comments, with many suggesting that welfare recipients should be required to carry out crucial work such as fruit picking during times of crisis.
“There should be absolutely no dole for anyone who is remotely capable of working, while this is going on. Why should we bring people in from other countries because those in our own are too fussy or lazy to do what needs to be done? No work, no dole!!!” one Facebook user wrote.
“So sad. Am sure plenty of workers on Centrelink employment benefits would be keen to give this a go. Especially if benefits were cut off temporarily, while harvest is on,” another posted.
Dr Webster told news.com.au that she was surprised by the huge response to her post, but said it proved just how serious the problem was, and how many Australians were willing to help out.
“I think there is a tremendous misunderstanding about the horticulture industry and just how many workers we need,” she said.
“I was looking at a government data page today and in fact we have 21,000 (overseas) workers in the country, but that’s actually still nowhere near what we had prior to Covid.
“We need a range of workers to meet all these needs. When we were in government we did a whole lot of work managing the seasonal workforce … and I’m not pretending there’s an instant solution, but we have a desperate need for workers.”
Dr Webster said the industry was in “crisis” and that labour hire contractors in her region were short of workers for the first time in their careers, with local farmers also forced to plough in acres of fruit trees as a result.
She said that local farmers had told her directly they were paying $40 per bin at the moment, and while not everyone would be able to maintain that pace and earn the same amount, there was a minimum wage in place to protect workers.
“People are going from farm to farm saying ‘that’s not enough money, I’m going to the next farm’, so the opportunity is there,” she said, adding it was a worker’s market at the moment.
She acknowledged that there had been cases of workers being exploited in the past and said it was essential that systems were in place to protect everyone.
“Nobody wants to see workers being treated poorly and it shouldn’t be tolerated on any level,” she said.
“Fundamental systems need to be in place like single touch payroll and farm visas that effectively allow people to move from farm to farm and work with their credentials and visas, with that information readily available, preferably on a digital platform, that farmers can easily access.
“I’ve been arguing for these issues for three years, but many reputable labour hire firms are already doing it because they don’t fear being audited.”
A quick scan of Australian job sites show there's a range of reasonably well-paid fruit and vegetable picking roles available.
Australia’s fruit industry crisis is again making headlines. Picture: iStock
However, the problems plaguing the nation’s fruit industry is nothing new, with farmers calling out the lack of pickers for years now, with the situation severely worsened due to the Covid pandemic and border shutdowns which saw backpackers leave the country in droves.
Last January, the federal government stepped in, announcing a new scheme to lure in locals to pick up the slack with Government Relocation Assistance, which was worth up to $6000 for Australian job seekers and up to $2000 for international job seekers.
Those who relocate to take up the short-term agricultural positions – for a minimum of six weeks – were eligible.
The government also merged the Pacific Labour Scheme and the Seasonal Worker Program into one, with the intention of the revised Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme (PALM) promising to streamline things between workers and bosses and get more overseas workers where they are needed.
Michael Crisera, growers services manager at Fruit Growers Victoria, told news.com.au there were many different factors at play when it came to calculating a typical fruit picker’s wages, including the volume of fruit picked, the crop in question and the individual farm’s going rates.
But he said under the Horticultural Award 2020, the fixed minimum wage was $25.41 per hour, while those being paid “piecework” – according to how many bins of fruit they pick in a day – would make a minimum of $40 per bin, or $6000 over a six-week stint.
“We definitely need to look at as many options as we can to fill the void of labour shortages,” he said.
The industry is crying out for workers. Picture: Indeed
“The PALM scheme is a key one, but we need to look at other things too.
“Labor needs to look at other forms of migration, not just be reliant on the PALM scheme – we need all options.”
He said the issue was that Australia just didn’t have enough backpackers coming into the country at the moment, which meant there weren’t enough people on hand to pick fruit.
He said while the problem had affected apple and pear crops recently, citrus growers were now especially feeling the squeeze.
However, the fruit picking industry has been plagued by controversy in the past, with a damning survey conducted by Unions NSW and the Migrant Workers Centre in Victoria last year revealing an alarming majority of fruit and vegetable pickers in Australia were victims of wage theft, with nearly 80 per cent of 1300 horticulture industry workers reporting experiences of underpayment.
The, was the latest to expose the inhumane treatment of the workforce, which was accused of systematically exploiting vulnerable overseas workers on temporary visas.
In 2021, Taiwanese foreign worker Kate Hsu told NCA NewsWire she was paid just $4 an hour picking oranges on a South Australian farm as a result of the “piece rate” pay structure, where a workers are paid by the quantity of fruit or vegetables they pick during a shift.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/careers/tragedy-aussie-mps-heartbreak-over-2k-a-week-job-nobody-wants/news-story/1d38f0666cfaebe29749edb3e6d8d90c
