The first charter flight of farm workers from the Pacific Islands has arrived in Queensland under the restarted Seasonal Worker Program.
One hundred and fifty workers from Tonga arrived in Emerald in central Queensland last week to begin two weeks of quarantine on-farm.
Queensland is the second state to welcome international workers after the Northern Territory's pilot program as the agriculture sector scrambles to address the expected labour shortage.
Growcom's Richard Shannon said that flight was the first of four that would arrive in Queensland to fill a shortfall of 7,000 workers needed for the agriculture and horticulture industries between now and Christmas.
"We have a severe and critical shortage of labour in Australia right now for our harvest," Mr Shannon said.
"Normally we rely on backpackers for this labour, but a lot have gone home.
"So there is a likelihood of crops going unpicked and less produce available for consumers in the grocery aisle.
"We need all the workers we can get."
Working through quarantine
The workers came from places in the Pacific that had fewer cases of COVID-19 than in Australia, so requiring them to quarantine was overly cautious, Mr Shannon said.
"They have accommodation in place that allows them to physically isolate and distance themselves from not just other workers on their farms, but also, importantly, the local community," he said.
"They'll be doing quarantine for two weeks on-farm, and they are also able to work while they do their quarantine."
Mr Shannon said he did not know where workers from the other three charter flights would go, saying that was a matter between the labour hire industry and the Queensland and Federal Governments.
"We hope the next three flights travel as smoothly as this one and as a result open up this pathway in the future," he said.
"Because 150 workers is a really great start."
The cost of the flights and quarantine fell back on the contractor, but it was more costly to let fruit and crops rot, Mr Shannon said.
By working through a contractor or labour hire company, workers would be able to move between farms as they were needed, he said.
The trial, agreed to by the Queensland Government before it went into caretaker mode before the election, was to iron out any kinks in the protocols and procedures, Mr Shannon said.
Central Highlands Regional Mayor Kerry Hayes has welcomed the charter and says it has been a show of confidence in his region.
"I'm really excited that we were chosen, and it's necessary as this region contributes a billion dollars' worth of agriculture to the state economy every year, so it's really important that we try to make this work," Cr Hayes said.
