Immigration, page-1402

BRING IN THE SOUTH EAST ASIANS...!??
THE SCAM powers on ..or is it just panic on property demands caving?
If you harvest 10 tonnes of Mangoes - we'll give you a Green Pass

https://murrayhunter.substack.com/p/australian-asean-farm-worker-visa
......
..
..

Solving the chronic labor problems by increasing the number of Pacific islander arrivals is languishing because of Covid-19 quarantine issues. Supplementing farm worker numbers from the ranks of Australia’s unemployed, now at 4.6 percent, with 14.28 percent of the youth population between 15 to 24 years, is fraught with institutional and preferred lifestyle issues. They don’t want to work in crops. In addition, Australia’s pension system is preventing those over 65 from re-entering the workforce, despite many willing to take up jobs.

Thus, the ASEAN farm work visa would be the best immediate short-term solution. The scheme is not only vital for the primary sector to relieve chronic shortages in farming, harvesting, processing and packing labor, but also critical to maintain Australia’s food supply chain to urban areas. Last year the states of Tasmania and Victoria flew in 1,500 Pacific Island farm workers in an attempt to alleviate labor problems. More than 80 percent of workers in Australia’s horticultural industry, for instance, are migrants on temporary work visas (or undocumented). The Working Holiday Maker scheme, which provides the industry with backpackers, has been decimated by Covid-19..

yadda
The ASEAN farm worker visa is very different from other such arrangements. Similar to the Pacific Islands scheme, The ASEAN program was created by an amendment to the Migration Regulations 1994, with section 403.281 (a) which says any applicant must come from a participating country, under an agreement administrated by the Foreign Affairs Department. Under other work visa schemes like the 457 sponsored temporary work visa, anybody can apply without government’s consent. This in effect has added another very complex layer to the visa scheme, in which the Australian government doesn’t control the outcomes.