Seasonal workers being paid as little as $3.20 per hour have faced a Senate inquiry after allegations they were threatened for previously giving evidence.
Two Samoan fruit pickers were to have their employment terminated after they gave evidence to the Senate last month, if not for their government's intervention, according to the Samoan high commissioner.
They gave evidence on February 2 to the Senate's job security committee, which is investigating what impact insecure employment arrangements are having on factors such as wages and working conditions.
Both Sunny Ridge Farms and labour hire company MADEC, who employ the two workers, deny the allegations the high commissioner made in a radio interview.
One worker said they were told it was planned they would be relocated to another farm when they returned from the Senate hearing, adding he felt "threatened" and it was "lucky no one was injured".
MADEC chief executive Laurence Burt said plans to relocate the employees were on foot before they gave evidence because they were "disengaged" with their work, although Labor senator Karen Grogan noted they'd worked more than 40 hours in each of January's last three weeks.
The hearing also explored deductions MADEC takes from employee pay, which saw one employee work 30.3 hours for gross pay of $937, but take home just $100 after deductions and tax.
That equates to around $3.20 per hour.
Mr Burt told the inquiry on Thursday deductions are high for seasonal workers in their first 12 weeks while they repay expenses such as airfares and visa costs, while weekly living costs include accommodation, transport and health insurance.
Labor senator Tony Sheldon noted the employees believed they had worked upwards of 60 hours one week where they had been paid $100, adding it reflected a broken system.
"We're not here to work out how many hours were worked, but if we we're arguing between earning $1.60 an hour or $3.29 an hour, there's clearly a problem isn't there?" he said.
"This is the system across the board where people are taking home just $100 a week for that many hours that there's something fundamentally wrong with the system."
