Government praises labour milestone but ag still crying out for more workers

Labor scrapped the former government's Ag Visa, which had the backing of the industry but was yet to deliver any workers, and instead promised to double down on the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility program.

In October, it committed to reaching 35,000 workers by June 2023. Latest data shows the milestone was reached in December.

The additional 10,700 workers is an increase of 44 per cent in seven months.

But the agriculture industry is critical of the policy, claiming the program is of little use for small family growers, and those seeking skilled or semi-skilled non-seasonal workers.

While prime minister Anthony Albanese and agriculture minister Murray Watt praised their government's achievement, National Farmers Federation chief executive Tony Mahar said if Labor thought the PALM scheme was the answer to the ag worker shortage, it demonstrated "they still don't understand the issue".

"Let's not pretend the PALM is some silver bullet that will solve the ag worker shortage... reaching this target early has not touched the sides of our workforce crisis," Mr Mahar said.

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"The reality is farmers are still crying out for workers, and while these figures are good news, we can't get distracted from finding meaningful workforce solutions for agriculture."

The NFF wants to see the government open the scheme to Vietnamese workers to help fill skilled positions and remove the participation barriers for smaller growers.

The government sees the PALM program as an important soft diplomacy tool, curbing the influence of China within the Pacific.

The average PALM worker sends home an average of $15,000, more than 15 times the annual wage of one-third of Pacific Islanders.

"This scheme is a practical measure that shows our respect for the Pacific and will build a stronger Pacific family," Mr Albanese said.

Senator Watt said reaching the target early showed the government's commitment to immediately addressing the long-standing workforce issues in the agricultural industry.

"These workers are now providing important skills and labour in our agricultural sector, helping Australian farmers and meat processors fill gaps in their workforce," Senator Watt said.

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