Other worker options in horticulture

FEBRUARY 11, 2016: I will support the Bowen Gumlu Growers in their push for a 15% flat rate of tax for backpackers. But growers should also consider other options when looking for workers.Growers need to realise though, that this is going to be very difficult to achieve.And though it's labelled a backpacker tax, this is not a tax.It’s the removal of the tax-free threshold which was increased from $6000 to $18,000 only a few years ago.The difficulty is this measure represents a $540 million saving to the Budget bottom line, and it’s going to be extremely difficult to find another avenue to recoup that saving.One solution for individual growers is to get in contact with Job Active providers such as Neato, Job Futures and Max Employment.I know that Australians sometimes shy away from labour-intensive jobs such as fruit and vegetable picking but in the current economic climate I think growers should try to get an unemployed Aussie to work on their farms.We have a high youth unemployment rate in places like Mackay, the Whitsundays, Bowen and Townsville and by rights these people should be in a job if a job’s available. The job market is extremely tough and many young Australians should be more open to taking up work in the horticultural sector.Farmers also have the ability to be part of the Seasonal Worker Programme utilising 416 visas, which is specifically designed to help Australian businesses who experience seasonal labour shortages.While farmers might be upset over taxation changes affecting backpacker holiday workers, they should remember that the Labor side of politics seems to want to axe or severely curtail the backpacker holiday worker system all together.Union leaders have complained about how many foreign backpacker workers are working in agriculture despite there being people out there begging for jobs and I’ve heard the same sentiments echoed by Labor members in Federal Parliament.However these union boffins and Labor politicians should realise that it is sometimes difficult for farmers to get Australians working in a labour-intensive job such as fruit and vegetable picking and perhaps if they got out and talked to farmers they’d realise that.I have had discussions with the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Agriculture and the Treasurer about the removal of the tax-free threshold for backpacker workers, and will continue to press for changes.