Will local labour be enough to fix worker shortage...
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Outback Australia's workforce is collapsing but, while some employers are eager to see backpackers return to remote stations, others say this is an opportunity to correct past mistakes and rebuild the local labour pool.
Key points: Remote stations are struggling to fill worker shortages left by backpackers. They say since the pandemic thousands of jobs have been left emptyLocal mayors say it's time to rethink outback workforces and hire locals insteadKacie Lord and her husband, Ardie, run Lord Pastoral, which comprises six properties across Central and South West Queensland.
For the past 30 years the couple has been hiring backpackers for manual labour but that's changed drastically in the past 18 months.
'It used to be easy'When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Mrs Lord said hiring became increasingly difficult.
"It's an ongoing issue and it's becoming bigger," she said.
"It used to always be easy. We'd put an ad[vertisement] on Gumtree and we'd probably get 10 applicants."
Mrs Lord said now the take-up for vacant positions was virtually non-existent and there was no point using traditional advertising so, instead, they were relying on social media groups.
In Queensland's south-east, Joanna Burnett ran a training and job service specifically for remote stations.
Joanna Burnet says employers need more backpackers to come to Australia. (ABC Rural: Megan Hughes
)Backpackers would spend a week at her farm near Booubyjan, north-west of Gympie, learning about farm equipment and safety, before moving to a job.
At its peak, the business had 900 backpackers come through in a year. But since international borders closed, she hasn't trained anyone.
Mrs Burnet's business is in hibernation as the entire model relies on backpackers travelling to Australia, yet the calls for workers keep coming in.
"We've got 1,400 employers from all over the outback who come to us when they're wanting staff," Mrs Burnet said.
"I've got 250 job offers on the list at the moment but they know there's nothing we can do for them."There's a few backpackers left in Australia, but not many."
Mrs Burnet said her business had hundreds of backpackers waiting to enter Australia as soon as the country's international borders open and all of them want to work immediately.
'Subject of our own complacency'However, not everyone wants to return to the pre-pandemic model.
Blackall-Tambo Regional Council mayor Andrew Martin said that, while backpackers have played a crucial part in the local agricultural industry, it was time to rethink the outback workforce.
"We are a subject of our own complacency," he said.
"COVID has closed international borders, and we've found ourselves coming up terribly, terribly short."
Blackall-Tambo Region mayor Andrew Martin says rural industries dropped the ball.(ABC Western Queensland: Lucy Murray
)ABS figures are hiding 300,000 job losses that helped to push down Australia's unemployment rate after the borders were closed.
Read moreMr Martin said it was time to look at the silver lining because this shortage has provided rural industries with an opportunity to rebuild local workforces.
"I think there's something like 200,000 vacancies in remote and rural Australia at the moment.
"There's a lot of jobs there but no people to fill them.
"We took our eye off the ball and COVID-19 has brought our eyes very much back on the ball."Boulia Shire Mayor Rick Britton agreed with Cr Martin.
"We're in dire straights," he said.
"Without backpackers, it's really highlighted how reliant we are and how we've dropped the ball."
Need for skilled workersMrs Lord said it would make a huge difference to the hiring process if there were more skilled workers in the applicant pool.
She said it had been difficult finding staff with appropriate qualifications or training.
"It's an exhausting process," she said. "You have to honour every application, and I do.
"What we get really sick of is this expectation of coming out to the bush, getting a high wage, but having no skills." Springbrook farm usually trains 900 workers a year for outback jobs. This year there were none.(ABC Rural: Megan Hughes
)A new farm work visa will be offered to residents from 10 South-East Asian nations to help Australian farmers harvest their crops, but the the peak farm lobby says it will have to see it to believe it.
Read moreMrs Burnet said she wanted to see the federal government open Australia's borders.
"The pastoral employers in the outback are desperate, but we haven't been able to persuade the government yet to allow us to bring [workers] in for quarantine here and then get work."
As part of a new trade deal with the UK, the federal government is establishing a new agriculture-specific visa, but it means the estimated 10,000 backpackers a year from that country would no longer need to complete an obligatory 88 days on a farm to extend their visa
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said he could not quell the fears of businesses, concerned about future shortages.
He said the government was allowing 25,000 Pacific Islands workers to enter the country but only 7,000 had been brought in so far.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says there are still options to access workers.(ABC News: Ian Cutmore.
)Mr Littleproud said it was up to states and territories to approve the workers and give them the "health tick", before the federal government could approve their visas.