Backpackers Battle for Farm Work With Australia’s New Jobless
Backpackers Battle for Farm Work With Australia’s New Jobless
(Bloomberg) --
Every day for the past month, Britain’s Ryan James has hit the phones from the Brisbane hostel he’s sharing with about 16 other backpackers, seeking a rural job in the midst of Australia’s coronavirus lockdown. But he’s found “no farm work at all.”
James, 26, is competing with some of the 118,000 other working-holiday visa holders who aren’t able to access emergency government funds available to citizens, along with thousands of Australians now jobless after restaurants, cafes and pubs shut.
Backpackers will “end up getting scared off and not come back,” he said in a warning to the nation’s A$48 billion ($30 billion) agricultural industry. “When everything’s back to normal, they’re going to rely on us again.”
That could have lasting implications for Australia’s capacity to pick and process crops. While industry groups say there’s anecdotal evidence of a surge in demand for farm work from locals as unemployment doubles to a forecast 10% this quarter, economist Saul Eslake said post-lockdown the nation will likely once again return to its traditional reliance on international arrivals, which could create a shortage of labor.
“Problems will arise when those who are here finally return home and aren’t replaced,” said Eslake, an independent economist who has analyzed the Australian economy for 40 years. “While the government’s position that the line on welfare needs to be drawn somewhere is understandable, it will probably be a factor that prospective backpackers will consider when deciding whether to come here in future.”
The dilemma comes in the wake of a government misstep earlier this decade, when it announced it would replace a tax-free threshold for backpackers earning less than A$18,200 with a 32.5% levy on all their income. After intense lobbying from farmers concerned that a large swathe of the itinerant workforce would be removed, the rate was reduced to 15% and ultimately scrapped altogether.
Traveler Backlash
Concern about the tax contributed to a 5% fall in working-holiday visa applications in the fiscal year following its announcement on May 2015 as the budget-travel community used social media platforms to warn against staying in Australia. Similar advice now could be dire for farmers, especially with the global backpacker market already expected to significantly contract due to economic recessions and soaring airline fares.
“Seasonal labor is important to many parts of Australian agriculture and, if it’s not there, then that becomes significant down the track, particularly for horticulture,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agriculture strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
The strenuous labor on Australian farms, which backpackers need to endure for at least three months of a typical two-year stay allowed under working-holiday visas, has become a rite of passage for young international travelers, while also becoming an important cog in the economy. According to Tourism Australia, in 2016 working-holiday visa holders hailing from nations including the U.K. (18% of total arrivals), South Korea (11%) and Germany (10%) generated A$3.4 billion of revenue.
Now, international backpackers fear they will be overlooked by farmers due to fears they may be carrying the virus, especially after news bulletins showed youth hostel patrons ignoring social-distancing restrictions and partying at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has since insisted backpackers in cities must self-isolate for 14 days before they can travel to rural areas for work, yet that may not be possible in crowded hostels and dorms.
In a bid to addresses criticism that his fiscal aid packages had ignored working-holiday makers, Morrison’s conservative government this month changed visa rules so working backpackers can extend their stay for as long as 12 months by working on farms.
Food Security
The decision came after primary producers raised concerns that border lock downs could threaten food security due to new restrictions on foreign labor with seasonal-workers visas, who typically hail from Pacific Islands nations. One-third of peak seasonal farming jobs are usually filled by overseas workers, according to a 2018 survey of more than 2,400 farms released last year by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics & Sciences.
Still, the government has refused to give the more than 2 million temporary visa holders -- who include working-holiday makers and foreign students -- access to emergency welfare such as payments of A$1,500 a fortnight available to about 6 million Australian residents.
Morrison, whose government insists backpackers first prove they have at least A$5,000 in savings before they can receive a visa, has been blunt about what James and other budget travelers should do if they can’t find enough work to support themselves.
“Australia must focus on its citizens and its residents to ensure that we can maximize the economic supports that we have,” he told reporters on April 4. For those who can’t pay their own way, “there is the alternative for them to return to their home countries,” he said.
The demand has been criticized by some backpackers who either can’t afford the few expensive flights still available or are barred from entering their own locked-down nations. Still, governments including the U.S. have repeatedly warned citizens they won’t be bailed out if stuck overseas.
Backpackers Stranded
Australian’s main opposition Labor party is calling for Morrison’s government to do more to support stranded working-holiday makers and other temporary visa holders.
“So long as this population remains in Australia, then they need to be supported,” Deputy Labor Leader Richard Marles told parliament April 8.
American backpacker Tia Fowler agrees. Speaking from a strawberry farm in the nation’s tropical northeast, she said she’s struggling to pay her rent just weeks after fleeing a tourist town on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef where she worked in a restaurant.
“It got so bad so quickly,” she said. Now, she’s only getting less than 20 hours of work a week planting fruit near Bundaberg, about 220 miles north of Brisbane, as she says the farm is crowded with too many workers. “I understand I’m very lucky to have a farm job right now at all, but I am frustrated.”
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.