BACKPACKERS TO PACK IT IN OVER LABOR VISA HIKE

Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack has slammed the Albanese Labor Government’s decision to hike the cost of a Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa by $130 to $640 from 1 July and its plan to limit these visas to just one year.

Mr McCormack said the price increase would now make it the highest fee visa of its kind in the world and would devastate the backpacker industry, which contributes about $3 billion to the economy and helps to address already critical regional workforce shortages.

“Federal Labor has once again turned its back on the needs of regional communities with an unnecessary additional slug to visa costs,” Mr McCormack said.

“This will mean visa charges are set to increase upwards of $640. At the same time, the Government is considering placing one-year limits on Working Holiday Maker visas.

“Does Labor not understand labour shortages, particularly in agriculture and horticulture, are critical at present? There are 91,000 regional vacancies in country Australia at the moment and this short-sightedness by Labor will only make a bad situation far worse.”

There are currently more than 137,000 WHM visa holders in Australia which make up to 80 per cent of the harvest labour force in horticulture, while in other commodities they account for 5 to 15 per cent of the junior, casual and seasonal workforce.

“This is a terrible move by Labor which will only make life even more difficult for our hard-working farmers, tourism operators and hospitality workers throughout the Riverina and Central West, who are already crying out for workers,” Mr McCormack said.

“The regions are yet again set to suffer under this city-centric Labor Federal Government.”