After two days of discussions on jobs and skills in Canberra last week, 36 “concrete plans” to tackle Australia's economic challenges were established.
They included a lift to the annual migration intake as well as establishing a working group of agricultural sector, union and government representatives in a bid to tackle the labour shortage crisis.
These two announcements, along with a commitment to fast-track the number of fee-free TAFE places, would make a significant difference to the regional Australian workforce, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said.
“The reality is that agriculture is not the only industry with a massive worker shortage,” Mr Watt said.
“There’s a range of measures that we’ve committed to that will start right now that will have immediate benefit for agriculture as we then work on some of the more long-term issues through that working group.”
In addition to workers already in Australia, current estimates show about 40,000 Pacific Island workers who were vetted and ready to migrate for work, Mr Watt said.
“We also want to make sure that we’re encouraging locals to take up careers in agriculture and providing them with the skills that are needed to do so,” he said.
Following the summit the government also announced Australians on the aged and veterans pensions will be able to earn up to $4000 in extra income a year without losing their benefits.
But some farmers say the announcements didn’t provide any immediate solutions.
Mixed grain and sheep farmer Justin Everitt from Brocklesby in southern NSW is starting to reduce his flock by three-quarters because he cannot get enough workers.
He has also been unable to lock in enough workers for harvest which starts in November.
“Just feels like kicking the can down the road. ‘We’ll set up a group and we’ll talk about it’,” Mr Everitt said.
“If something comes up then that’s fantastic, but I won’t hold my breath.”
National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson who attended the summit praised the government for the collaborative approach, but said more action was needed.
“As farmers we’re a bit sick of talking. It’s critically important that we start to turn all that talk into tangible action,” Ms Simson said.
However, Ms Simson said some of the summit outcomes would help farmers.
“Increasing skilled migration and simplifying enterprise bargaining will certainly help meet skills gaps, and we commend the government for promising immediate action on these.
“We’re also pleased to have reached a tripartite agreement with key unions and government to implement a range of agreed improvements to skills and training, workplace safety, housing, and the PALM Scheme.”
Ms Simson said it was still unclear how agriculture would fill tens of thousands of roles in the immediate term.
“We are still left wondering how we will plug the yawning gap in lower-skilled workers.”
Ms Simson said an additional 9000 regional places included in the lifting of the permanent skilled migration cap would not meet the needs of the sector.
Across the food supply chain it is estimated there is a shortfall of at least 172,000 workers.
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