“Labour shortage” farmers reject 1500 Aussies for visa slaves

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For months we have witnessed farmers, media and Coalition politicians warn that Australia’s farms are facing an acute labour shortage due to the sharp decline in temporary foreign working holiday makers:

We have also been told that there are insufficient Australians willing or able to do the work, leading to calls to open Australia’s international border to temporary foreign workers.

Turns out that Australia’s farmers don’t want local workers because they cannot be easily exploited:

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.