MPs back proposal to give refugees residency for fruit picking | nickbonyhady
Government and opposition MPs are backing a proposal to have refugees go bush to fill vital fruit and vegetable picking jobs left behind by backpackers locked out of the country.
"There's a desperate need for warm human bodies prepared to work hard in the regions right now and for the next couple of years until the borders reopen properly," said Mr Hill, who represents the diverse south-eastern Melbourne electorate of Bruce."The idea to offer the chance to proven refugees in Australia to go bush and do this work in return for a permanent visa is worth backing," he said.
The council wants refugees who go bush to be given residency after one year, which Mr Hill and Mr Drum said was too short, naming two years as a preferable requirement.Mr Drum said the agricultural sector needed workers urgently and the government ought to look at proposals incentivising everyone from the unemployed and school graduates to move to the regions.
John Alexander, the member for Bennelong in Sydney, said the proposal "seems like a reasonable idea".The fruit and vegetable industry has previously pushed for a scheme that would allow unskilled people to work in the sector and be given a path to residency, which could include refugees, but has not won government support.
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