Up to Covid, the backpackers (about 200K in Aus at any time) and foreign students (again close to 200K at any time) were working either foll time or part time in the low paid/low skilled jobs but of course most of that has now dried up & ScoMos hit on China did not improve the prospect of Chinese foreign students returning.
In fact following the ScoMo/Dutton China debacle, the Chinese Government has issued a directive to discourage Chinese Students from studying in Aus !
I have have 1st hand knowledge of backpackers & foreign students cheap labour: -a family member grows fruit & strawberries and up to Covid he only employed backpackers because they would group together and work piece work which panned out at the minimum wage. Similarly my local cafe strip employed mostly backpackers & foreign students (backpackers could work normal hours while foreign students were restricted to 20 hrs P/W)
So blame a mix of Covid & Scomo-Dutton for our shortages of cheap/unskilled labour...eh? ....both an unfortunate set of circumstances forAus...IMO.
