Australian Workers Union (AWU) national secretary Dan Walton is highly critical of the new agriculture visa that is due to take effect at the end of September. Walton says the visa will clash with the Pacific Labour Scheme, and will cause great damage to Australia’s relations with Pacific Island nations.
Walton claims the agriculture visas will throw Pacific Islanders “under a bus” in order that a handful of unscrupulous farmers can save a few dollars by “treating Asian workers like serfs” and will “entrench modern slavery in Australia”:
“It appears as though this new visa will throw our Pacific friends under a bus, all because some dodgy farmers want more access to more exploitable workers,” Mr Walton said. “At a time when China is circling for influence in our region, Australia’s apparently going to trash our friendships in the Pacific so a handful of farmers can save a few bucks by treating Asian workers like serfs”…
“The scope of the visa has been expanded to include any number of yet-to-be-determined countries, to include workers outside of the horticulture sector, and to have no caps on the number of workers arriving,” Mr Walton wrote [in a letter to Agriculture Minister David Littleproud].
He sent a series of questions to the minister, including whether labour market testing would be in place. “It is alarming that these details have not been determined, with the government instead apparently rushing towards its arbitrary deadline to establish this visa by the end of the month,” Mr Walton wrote.
“The AWU is deeply concerned that, without genuine consultation and proper safeguards, your government will implement a visa that encourages the ongoing exploitation of vulnerable workers and entrenches modern slavery in Australia.”
The most concerning aspect of these so-called agricultural visas is that they will provide pathways for permanent residency for the visa holders provided they pledge to become indentured with an employer for at least three years.
These workers are mainly unskilled and they are coming to work in what has been demonstrated to be Australia’s most exploitative industry. These visa holders will be on low pay and they will have little opportunity for advancement. So, if they are provided permanent residency they will leave the agricultural industry and gravitate towards the larger population centres in search of higher wages and to be closer to other members of their own ethnic community.
The lack of thought that has gone into this visa has laid the groundwork for yet another Coalition immigration debacle.
Moreover, get ready for other sectors of the Australian economy to demand (and receive) industry-specific visas under the guise of ‘skills shortages’.
After all, the parliamentary migration committee last month recommended a pathway to permanent residency for all migrant workers who come to Australia on temporary skill visas.
So brace yourself for a flood of industry migration deals. The great immigration scab grab has begun.
