Push for “flexible quarantine” of farm slaves as Aussies lay stranded

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19 months on from the pandemic and there are still around 40,000 Australians stuck overseas and unable to return home due to: 1) prohibitive arrivals caps and quarantine limits; and 2) extortionately expensive airfares and quarantine costs.

Rather than developing solutions to bring stranded Australians home, our politicians are more interested in importing cheap migrant workers for farmers:

International Development Minister Zed Seselja… will on Tuesday announce overhauls of the Pacific Labour Scheme and Seasonal Worker Program, broadening access to workers and removing barriers for farmers and businesses…

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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.