AN ethical paradox is a decision-making problem between two possible moral imperatives, neither of which is acceptable.
COVID-19 has delivered Australia with a unique set of problems, some of which, particularly for the Goulburn Valley, highlight an ethical paradox that has for many years slipped under the radar.
This region is regularly defined as the fruit bowl of the nation. The full thrust of our economy is in many ways inextricably linked to it. Much of the industry in the region is connected to it within six degrees of separation. We all have become dependent upon it.
Yet, at the heart of the industry is the need of cheap labour, a sizable portion of which often falls within a labour black market.
In 2018, the Fair Work Ombudsman, under the Federal Government, conducted an investigation into the work practices of produce harvesting, finding at the time that almost half the businesses investigated breached workplace laws with underpayments and at times no payment for time worked.
The Goulburn Valley needs the fruit industry to be successful, yet its very success is, at times, built around the use, and at times exploitation of cheap labour.
Labour to the industry comes in several forms. Some years ago, the Australian Government established a program that enabled backpackers to extend their visas through a process of working 88 days as farm labour. That, for the moment, is drying up due to travel restrictions. Beyond that is the use of illegal labour, migrant workers who come here from Indonesia, Malaysia and East and South Asia, often arranged through labour-hire firms that remove the illegality one further step away from legitimate business.
“There is enough evidence to say that it is systemic… Significant numbers (of migrant workers) are really exploited,” said Professor Allan Fels, heading up the Migrant Worker Taskforce
The practice of labour exploitation has been around since Australia was first settled by the British. The convicts on the hulks would have previously been consigned to the United States as indentured workers had the War of Independence not taken place a decade earlier.
Post-World War II, cheap labour from war-ravaged Europe came to the region to help get Australia back on track economically and faced many hardships yet, at the same time, had the benefit of a legal and industrial process that gave them some protection. It enabled them to move on and become the bosses.
In the absence of cheap labour, the success of the Goulburn Valley would be seriously curtailed, hense the paradox. Do we continue along a path that enables exploitation of workers who lack access to rights or do we let the success of the harvest industry slide due to higher costs structures and less competitive products? Neither are really acceptable.
In some ways, the harsh trade practices of the major retail sector forces the harvest industry’s backs to the wall with large volumes of the crop not being accepted due to higher quality demands, and competition with low income countries vying for the same export markets that have been produced with cheaper labour still.
Solving the harvest problem will not be easy. Suggestions are to engage students in a gap year, however some in the industry would argue local pickers will not do the work that is now being done by a workforce of workers who by and large, have little option. In any event, the economics of the region depends upon a satisfactory resolution happening.
