Australia’s international workers make up just a tenth of the workers needed to bring product from the paddock to the plate as harvest approaches, with all eyes on a visa agreement with Vietnam to help supplement numbers. 

Until now, the federal government has ditched what was known as the Ag Visa, relying solely on the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme to supply the industry’s major workforce demand. 

After limiting ag working visas to the PALM scheme - which provides visas for workers from nine Pacific islands and Timor Leste - the government has confirmed that they will honour the Memorandum of Understanding with Vietnam, making Vietnam the first country to participate in the new Australian Agriculture Visa (AAV) program. 

With the PALM scheme having brought in just 10,000 workers, Member for Parkes Mark Coulton said confirmation of the AAV program is a relief. 

“The workforce shortage is one of the biggest issues currently facing the Parkes electorate, with farmers in particular struggling to find the workers needed to harvest their crops,” Mr Coulton said. 

The Labor government did away with the former government’s ag visa earlier this year, choosing instead to strengthen ties and support with Pacific nations by allowing visas of up to four years in rural and regional Australia where workers can bring their partners and children to Australia. 

At the time the move was heavily criticised by farming bodies across the country, although the Australian Workers’ Union said that it needed to be scrapped after too many workers fell into abusive working conditions. 

The Memorandum of Understanding with Vietnam is the remaining missing piece of the former ag visa. 

“Allowing workers from Vietnam to come to Australia on what was previously known as the ‘Ag Visa’ will help fill some of those critical jobs, which in turn will help to boost our food supply and provide relief to shoppers at the supermarket,” Mr Coulton said. 

With less workers being brought into Australia, Mr Coulton believes that it is impacting the wallets of Australians. Labor maintains that the previous ag visa was scrapped because of its small impact on the workforce. 

“When the supply of food goes down, the cost goes up,” Mr Coulton said. 

“Australia needs 172,000 workers to get product from the paddock to the plate right now and the PALM scheme will not be able to bring them in,” he said. 

According to government data, only 54,000 Working Holiday Maker visa holders had arrived in Australia by the end of August, meaning the workforce has not yet recovered to pre-covid border closure numbers of around 200,000 each year. 

A range of funding has been announced to help supplement the agriculture workforce as the crisis continues, but it is unlikely the measures will arrive in time sustain the industry for the harvest ahead.