Independent Member for Murray Helen Dalton says the Federal Government’s decision to introduce a ballot for backpackers seeking a second or third year on their working holiday visa will be devastating for rural NSW communities.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced the changes in a speech at the National Press Club.
Backpackers seeking a second or third year working holiday visa will be forced into a ballot designed to limit the number of visas granted, with second-year places capped at 45,000 and third year places slashed from 31,000 to 5,000.
“This ballot system will rob rural Australia of the workers we need to run our irrigation communities,” Helen said.
“Does the federal government really think our communities can survive if we lose our foreign workers? We don’t have a problem with immigration numbers in rural Australia, so why are we being asked to suffer these losses?”
“Does anyone in Canberra live in the real world?”
The National Farmers Federation estimates that overseas workers make up about half of Australia’s peak harvest casual workforce.
Mrs Dalton is calling on the federal government to reverse the changes to working holiday maker and skilled visas so that food and fibre production in rural Australia can continue.
