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Fruit growers plead for illegal workers
15 Apr 2004
Fruit and vegetable growers want to be able to employ workers currently deemed to be illegal. The Victorian Farmers' Federation horticultural president Colin McCormack said the Federal Government should allow farmers to employ the workers to alleviate the shortage of pickers. The industry can't be expected to rely on Centrelink or backpackers, he said. Growers say it's becoming harder each season to find people willing to do physical work and the Federal Government's crackdown on illegal fruit pickers in 2002 has further hindered them.
A Swan Hill Summer Fruits Development Association official said farmers don't set out to employ illegal workers, but a large number of unemployed Australians are not willing to work on farms. Growers are caught between a rock and a hard place - the fruit does not pick itself, he said.
But the Australian Workers' Union said growers should consider increasing wages and supplying better amenities before resorting to overseas workers.
Weekly Times, 14/4/04, page 18.
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