Australia's fruit and vegetable farmers rely heavily on backpackers to harvest their crops.(Supplied: LuvaBerry/Sara Vasseghi)
Almost all of the foreignbackpackers granted aworking holiday-maker visa since Australia announced it would lift its border restrictionsremain overseas.
The Department of Home Affairs says it has granted 31,000 of thevisas to people who havebeen permitted to travel to Australia since December 15.
There are currently almost 30,000 working holiday-maker visa holders outside Australia, aspokesperson said.
But there are governmentestimates that up to 24,000 working holiday-makerscould arrive in Australia by late April, when a visa rebate is due to expire.
Fruit and vegetable growershave welcomed the return of the backpackers, but warn it will be some time before the pre-COVID workforce is restored.
Tyson Cattle from industry group AusVeg said the sector had beendecimated by the labour shortage.
We're certainly not expecting a flurry of backpackers to take us back to the previous heights of having 150,000 backpackers in the country at any one time any time soon, he said.
Tyson Cattle says farmers don't expectbackpackersto flock to work on Australian farms.(Supplied)
Farm or beach?
Australia's fruit and vegetable farmers rely heavily on backpackers to harvest their crops, with more than half the workforce typically coming from overseas.
Mr Cattle said before COVID restrictionsclosed international borders in March 2020the horticulture industry employed up to 45,000 overseas workersa year.
He said even when travellers returned they might not be inclined to get start work straight away.
If a backpacker is coming out and looking to start their holiday and it is a work and holiday visa, the reality is they're likely to try and enjoy their time at the beach, or at the pub, or travelling up along the coast as opposed to getting stuck into their 88 days from the get-go, Mr Cattle said.
Travellers are required to work in specific industries, including farming ortourism and hospitality in rural areas for a minimum of 88 days in order to extend their visa.
Free trade fears
Last year Australia agreed to a trade deal with the UK that meant British backpackers would be exempt from any requirement to work on Australian farms,removing about 10,000 backpackers from the workforce.
Mr Cattle said growers expected future trade deals could seek similar exemptions.
Our expectation is that the European Union would look over the fence and ask for the same thing that the UK got in its free trade agreement — I don't think anybody is under any illusions about that, he said.
This is where the agriculture visa comes to the forefront, if we're able to counter the reduction of backpacker labour, we can balance that with the numbers that will build with the agriculture visa.
The agriculture visa was announced last year with Agriculture Minister David Littleproud initiallysuggesting it would bring foreign workers to Australian farms before last Christmas.
But so far no country has signed up to the visa and it's unclear how many workers would actually be recruited, or when they could arrive.
The governmentrecently announced it would refund the $495 visa application feefor working holiday-maker visa holders whotravelled to Australia before April 19.
There are more than 18,000 Pacific and Timorese workers in Australia on labour schemes who arepermitted to work on farms.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-02-12/farm-labour-shortage-unaffected-by-holiday-visa-surge/100822150
