MORE than 800 seasonal workers from the Pacific Islands have now successfully completed quarantine in the Riverland and begun important work harvesting SA crops and supporting thousands of local jobs right across the supply chain.
A total of 782 men and 22 women from Tonga, Kiribati, Vanuatu and Samoa have undergone quarantine since April without a single case of COVID-19 being detected and the Paringa Resort will now return to business as usual.
SA primary industries and regional development minister David Basham said the state government was pleased to report the last group of workers have received their final negative test.
"Industry modelling shows if there was a significant reduction in the availability of seasonal workers there could have been nearly $1 billion wiped from our state economy," he said.
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"This would have been devastating for our local agriculture industry and the thousands of jobs across the state it supports.
"These Pacific Island seasonal workers are now making a valuable contribution to the SA economy by working in seasonal harvest and meat processing roles.
"Our model is being looked upon interstate as best practice, with a total of four groups having undergone quarantine at this facility in the Riverland - the most recent of which were provided with a health 'all-clear' this week.
"The Paringa Resort will now return to business as usual with the removal of extra infrastructure such as security fencing taking place over the coming days."
Mr Basham said discussions were continuing about a potential in-country pre-departure quarantine pilot with Vanuatu and Fiji.
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