Queensland Needs Backpackers

[Guest The Pom Queen]

A new study has found that the fruit and vegetable sector in Queensland depends heavily on backpackers for its workforce.

 

Growcom, the peak body for fruit and vegetable producers, has warned the industry that it is now almost entirely dependant on international travellers and backpackers for its labour, according to a report in the Courier Mail.

 

“Australians are lazy,” Growcom chairman John Bishop warned. ”We can’t live without backpackers and Queensland can’t live without them.”

 

Despite the money on offer being the same for Aussies as it is for international workers – ‘hundreds of dollars a day on farms’ – it seems a lot of locals simply aren’t interested in the kind of jobs on offer.

 

This apparent dearth of home grown workers has seen the number’s of backpackers from overseas swell hugely since 2010 – from 185,480 to 249,231 in 2012/13.

 

Queensland tourism boss Daniel Gschwind has also hit back at some people who claim that this swelling in backpackers is taking jobs away from locals claiming the jobs are there if they want them.

 

“If any Australians claim they’ve been misplaced by a backpacker, I’ll find him or her a job,” he said.

 

The Courier Mail article has also spoken to a local Queensland farmer, Andrew Jackwitz, who believes that while jobs are there for locals, the vast majority of Australian’s ‘don’t want to do hard physical work, don’t like the heat and don’t like country living.’

 

“Last week I had hundreds [of backpackers] cutting onions. You should have seen the place,” he said. “We cut 200 tonne in a day.”

[tingtongman]

hehe I think an ozzie would rather get paid $20+ sitting in an office or doing any kind of job than being contracted to pick onions for $40 a bin.

 

It will take them 2-3 weeks to get to an earning rate of $20+/hr. If the price of bin went up to $60-80 then im sure you would see more ozzies out there. Untill then, I dont blame them for not wanting to do it. I wouldnt lol