A DEAL between State Governments will see 1,500 Pacific Island workers use Tasmania as an offshore quarantine location before arrival on the mainland for work on Victorian farms.
In return, Victoria will help facilitate the return of 330 overseas Tasmanians who wish to return home.
The contra deal is seen as a way to ease the pressure on Victorian farmers, including orchardists in Greater Shepparton, who face labour shortages due to the shortfall in international labour willing to work seasonal harvest jobs.
“This arrangement isn’t a silver bullet in addressing this season’s challenges, but it will ease some of the pressure being felt by farmers,” Premier Daniel Andrews said.
The Tasmanian Government will quarantine workers from the Pacific Islands in government-designated facilities over the first half of 2021, with costs borne by the Victorian Government.
“This is a critical step towards filling that workforce gap and ensuring fruit and vegetables don’t go to waste,” Mr Andrews said.
For Tasmania, the prospect of quarantining 1,500 ‘low risk’ Pacific Islanders (in terms of potential transmission of the Coronavirus) is considered preferable to quarantining 330 Tasmanians returning from around the world.
The Apple Isle presumably has apples of its own which need picking too, so the deal begs the question of who’s going to work on Tasmania’s farms?
The arrangement is subject to final consultation and agreement by the Federal Government.
