ACCESS to labour, and in particular the availability of backpacker labour, remains remains a major challenge for horticulture.
Speaking at the Food Heroes day at Koala Farms, Gatton, Growcom chief executive officer Pat Hannan described the labour issue as the elephant in the room that required urgent attention.
While horticulture was an industry characterised by risks and opportunities, access to labour remained the single biggest risk.
“We fought long and hard to win the backpacker fight and that got ugly at times,” Mr Hannan said. “We're now bearing the legacy issues of a government that buggerised around and did not make decisions quickly.
“It should have made decisions six to nine months before it did. Now we are facing a shortage of labour in the north, particularly in the next eight to 12 weeks.”
However, Mr Hannan said while the backpacker tax debacle was largely out of the control of growers, the abuse of vulnerable workers has created a significant problem.
“There have been a lot of well publicised abuses of vulnerable workers. Too many,” Mr Hannan said. “It’s certainly a minority. Of our 500 grower members probably there is probably only one member who isn’t doing the right thing.
“Most farmers treat their backpackers like they treat their kids. Why? Because if their kids are travelling overseas that is how they want them to be treated. That’s the biggest and best response across grower communities.”
Mr Hannan said like the backpacker tax, stories of abuse were having a direct affect on the availability of labour.
“They don’t do you any favours, do not do the industry any favours by abusing the labour that is there,” Mr Hannan said. “Frankly I’m looking at ways forcing these operators to show cause and why they shouldn’t be wiped out.”
Mr Hannan said Growcom was currently developing the Fair Farms Initiative program, working with the Fair Work Ombudsman. The initiative involved workplace best management programs to ensure everyone in the industry knew what was required to look after labour.
