Victorian Agriculture Minister Michaela Settle – will always fight for regional Victorians and industry.

VICTORIA’S Agriculture Minister Michaela Settle has deferred to the Albanese Government on its proposed cutbacks to Working Holiday Maker visas, while blaming the current “anti-immigration” push on One Nation and the federal Coalition.

However, One Nation has specifically excluded WHM visas from its immigration target and the Coalition has not yet released a complete immigration or WHM visa policy.

Farming bodies and Coalition politicians have opposed the Albanese Government’s plan to include the Working Holiday Maker Program in its proposed wide-ranging immigration cuts, implementing a three-month processing timeframe and imposing a ballot system for visa holders wanting to return in a second and third year.

Ms Settle this week responded to a call from Victorian Nationals deputy leader Emma Kealy for her to “urgently intervene in Australia’s visa debacle before farmers lose crops and families are hit with even higher grocery prices.”

Ms Kealy said farmers had repeatedly warned that visa delays were threatening their ability to secure the skilled workers needed for harvest.

“Harvest doesn’t wait for Canberra.

“When hay is ready to bale and grain is ready to harvest, farmers need skilled workers on the ground and machinery moving,” she said.

“If they can’t get those workers because visas are sitting in a bureaucratic queue, crops can be damaged or lost and farmers can lose hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars.”

While recognizing visa policy was a Federal Labor responsibility, Ms Kealy said Victoria’s Agriculture Minister had a responsibility to stand up for Victorian farmers.

“Michaela Settle cannot simply say this is Canberra’s problem.

“She is Victoria’s Agriculture Minister and her job is to stand up for Victorian agriculture,” Ms Kealy said.

“She should be on the phone to her federal Labor colleagues today demanding these visa delays are fixed and agricultural workers are prioritised.”

Settle has taken call for more workers to Canberra

Minister Settle said Victoria’s food and fibre industry is the envy of the nation and the Carroll Labor Government will always back it.

“Visa settings are controlled by the Commonwealth, not Victoria.

“This anti-immigration push is coming direct from One Nation and their Coalition mates,” she said.

“As long as workers are getting a fair days pay, safe conditions and proper treatment then we support the views of our farmers wanting more workers, and I have taken those views to the Commonwealth.

“We will always fight for the interests of regional Victorians and industry to the Commonwealth.”

Farmers ‘held to ransom’ – Duxson

Farmers Fightback founder Ben Duxson said he could not see how the responsibility for the Federal Government’s WHM visa changes could be “pushed on” One Nation.

“It seems really political against farmers and obviously the backpackers don’t vote, so there are no votes in it for them.

“They seem to be holding the farmers at ransom and holding up any sort of improvement in production that we can do out here and these current governments are really good at that, and they are not for farmers at all.”

The sheep and crop producer at Marnoo said he could see that future limits on WHM visa numbers would be “a real headache” for farmers.

Farmers Fightback recently organized a fundraising event at Marnoo attended by about 1250 people who came to hear One Nation leaders Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce.

Mr Duxson said the Federal Government’s WHM policy, and other government decisions around the VNI West transmission project and recent tax change had the potential to drive people away from the main Liberal and Labor parties to One Nation.

“It could actually do that, people have got to vote where the commonsense is … it’s the people who can support you that you are going to back in.”

He said farmers and business people who needed the WHM workers would vote for the candidates that supported them.

“Because they need the workers, people are screaming out for the workers and we don’t need it to be held up; nothing in the farming game can be held up.”

Mr Duxson said people have had enough with their treatment by Labor governments, which know how to harvest votes by bringing in immigrants and uni students.

“The ‘Uniparty’ is a real thing as well; they (Labor and the Coalition) all sort of work in together, the Liberals and Labor, so people are looking for change and it has to change because it can’t get any worse than what it is.”

Mr Duxson said change would have to come through the ballot box, as Labor governments had not listened to farmers’ concerns around consultation, route and land access on the VNI West transmission line project.

He said city voters needed to be educated about what is happening with government policies in regional areas.

“Nothing scares a politician more than the numbers of people that are against them … Farmers Fightback has over 150,000 supporters now, and a lot of them are city-based people and for the same reasons; they are just sick at what the government is doing to them at the moment.

“People are getting educated and they are starting to understand that these governments aren’t for us, they are doing nothing that actually does take us forward at all.”

He said Farmers Fightback is restructuring to be able to take on other campaigns that support farmers, including around immigration.

“I’ve had phone calls from people who are just totally angry that they can’t get a worker and seeing no hope that they can get a worker.

“It is a big issue in Australia that we can produce what we want, but we can’t get the workers to make sure it is harvested in a timely manner,” he said.

“We need the workers and the government seems hell-bent on holding that up.”

Mr Duxson said the biggest impact of the WHM changes would come in subsequent years when caps will be put on the number of working holiday makers able to come out for a second or third year.