Illegal workers caught in seedy ring

Sounds like the next Underbelly television mini-series or Mario Puzo screen-play for another upcoming sequel to The Godfather?

But actually, it’s a description of anecdotal evidence and convictions on illegal activities in Australia’s farm labour industry which are escalating nationwide and must be stopped, according to Queensland Nationals MP Keith Pitt.

“I’ve had any number of reports of people receiving physical violence, death threats, sexual abuse and sexual favours are rampant,” he said.

“Some of the reports we get are that to get signed off for your 88-days, to get year-two on your (417 working holiday) visa, the employer says, ‘we’ll give you two options – it’s $1000 on the table or you on the table’.”

Mr Pitt said bogus labour contractors and other organisations “hidden in the background” are exploiting backpackers coming into Australia on 417 working holiday visas and student visas, especially from south-east Asia who are generally “transient”.

He said the activity is also undermining the majority of ethical labour hire firms who supply legitimately to areas like horticulture but are now becoming “desperate” to clean-up their industry.

“The growers in my view pretty much do the right thing – they get a bill which they pay to the labour hire firm and then the labour hire firm milks it,” he said.

“How they do that can vary depending on which one it is (but) the really bad ones take everything.

“They’ll set up a company which will run for a short period of time and will issue their invoices.

“But then when the money piles into their accounts, they simply won’t pay the workers anything at all.

“We’ve had reports of up to $4000 to $5000 being owed to every single worker in a work-gang and some of them have up to 300 people.”

Mr Pitt said unethical tactics included the bogus labour contractors paying workers in cash that’s handed to them in envelopes which say “$180” on the front - but contains only $50.

“Now, can you imagine how much money your employer would make if they didn’t have to pay wages?” he said.

Mr Pitt said the net result of the illegal activity was that the long-term ethical labour hire contractors are going out of business “because they can’t compete”.

The bogus operators may offer 5 per cent under base costs and the grower says ‘5pc is 5pc’ because profit margins are tight and choses that operator, he said.

“I know of a number of big growers in my region who are now auditing their subcontractor labour hire farms to ensure they are paying their bills,” he said.

“But the reality is, Australia is the greatest nation in the world and we should not be a nation of slave labour; it’s just unacceptable.

“But also, knocking out our own people, who are doing the right thing, just has to stop.”

Mr Pitt believes exploitation of backpackers on working visas by bogus labour hire firms is also “completely destroying Australia’s tourism reputation”.

“It’s not just happening in my region; I’ve had calls from Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory,” he said.

“Everyone’s aware of it; we just need to ensure the laws that are there are enforced.

“We need to get enough noise so that everyone knows what we’re doing because it’s just so widespread.”

As Immigration Minister in the former Howard Government, Philip Ruddock announced a review into illegal work in 1999 which resulted in new measures to improve compliance, including tougher sanctions and education campaigns.

In 2010, a review by Stephen Howells found it was “the most significant problem facing Australian migration authorities”.

Mr Pitt has been pursuing the issue since being elected in 2013 including holding a forum in Brisbane last year along with Queensland Nationals Senator Barry O’Sullivan.

They gathered key industry stakeholders together who cautioned against adding red tape and compliance costs onto ethical operators, saying existing laws are sufficient but needed greater enforcement.

However, Mr Pitt said one of the complications to effective enforcement was the bureaucratic cross-over of core issues, into various government departments, including justice, immigration, social services and taxation, overlapping with local, state and federal jurisdictions.

The issue would also concern Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce due to its impact on farm labour that’s already suffering concerning shortages but in reality is only peripheral, he said.

Mr Pitt said at last year’s Brisbane forum, stakeholders suggested improving the capacity to enforce online photographic identification, to validate visa users with their visa numbers.

Another suggestion was for workers to attach payslips to their second year visa applications as proof they’ve completed the 88 days of specified work.

Mr Pitt said the issue of illegal farm workers had increased “exponentially” in the last 18 months to two years – but recent convictions and enforcement had been encouraging.

As an example of effective enforcement, he cited a $15,300 infringement notice from a case last year, while in the six months from July to December last year, 1357 illegal workers were located and action taken.

He also expressed concerns about illegal foreign workers being forced to use substandard housing by bogus employment contractors while ethical operators invested funds to ensure they complied with industry or Fair Work standards.

“We need to bring this issue out of the shadows and that’s one of the reasons why the National Party have asked for a multi-jurisdictional taskforce because it needs to be a concerted effort form all agencies to get this job done,” he said.