I was going to post this in the economic implications of coronavirus thread, but thought it was more general in nature so posted it here, priceless IMO, when you consider how many we have unemployed.
Farmers abandon crops in increasing numbers as frustration builds and negotiations between governments hit an impasse on the labour shortage crisis.
From the article:
Increasingly having to abandon unpicked crops, farmers in some states have entered the new year with little progress on securing additional workers from the Pacific Islands to help with their harvests.
Frustration is building in states where no progress has been made, with not all state, territory and federal governments agreeing on the path forward.
Growers traditionally use local labour, supplemented with backpackers or seasonal workers flown in from overseas.
But with a COVID-induced shortfall of 26,000 seasonal workers, produce in some areas is withering before it can be picked and crops are dying before they can be harvested, as debate over what to do about the labour crisis continues.
There has been much criticism of the inaction of state governments in finalising quarantine arrangements for foreign workers.
However, Mr Cattle said the problem could be solved with the stroke of a pen if the Federal Government set up a travel bubble for Pacific Islanders.
He suggested the New Zealand travel bubble system be adapted to include 22,000 pre-vetted islander workers.
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud this week repeated calls for the states to take action and fix the situation.
He said the situation had been coming "at us like a freight train" since March.
"We continue to press them to say that we're ready to stamp the visas … but we still haven't seen them come up with any large-scale quarantine arrangements," Mr Littleproud said.
Some states have made progress.
About 160 seasonal workers flew into Perth from Vanuatu last week.
Another flight has been approved to bring a further 158 Pacific Islanders into Western Australia next week, with a third group expected to arrive in March.
What a hoot, then you read this article.
Attempts to encourage Australians who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic to take up farm work appear to be failing, despite large cash incentives.
From the article:
Attempts to encourage Australians who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic to take up farm work appear to be failing, despite cash incentives to help cover accommodation and the cost of moving to rural areas.
According to figures from the Federal Department of Employment, a program that offers Australians who move to regional areas to take up harvest jobs has only attracted 148 workers in the month it has been operating.
The Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job program offers workers up to $6,000 to cover things like transport, accommodation, and uniform — provided the employee works a minimum of six weeks.
"The numbers really aren't surprising," said Tyson Cattle from horticulture lobby group AusVeg.
Australia you bloody beauty, you know you are standing in it.
Improve the NBN so we can get uber eats quicker and not interupt our bloody streaming, at least lock downs aren't a problem, sitting on our ar$e has become a national pastime lol .
I think 2021, is going to be exciting.