Dear Editor,
Daniel Andrews has found a way to bring 1200 players and staff in for the tennis, yet still fails to pave the way for seasonal workers to get onto Victorian farms.
Without enough workers, the problems are getting worse for our fruit and vegetable growers and meat processing sector.
A Lindenow Valley grower destroyed a $150,000 celery crop last week because he couldn’t get enough workers to have it picked within the short timeframe that the supermarkets require.
A Lake Boga producer was forced to mulch six hectares of ripe peaches after he could only get eight pickers – far less than the 30 that were needed.
At Shepparton, six hectares of zucchini was recently ploughed into the ground, while a Gippsland grower has lost about 20 per cent of their cauliflowers this season.
Daniel Andrews has locked our border and thrown away the key – despite a detailed solution from industry for a quarantine facility at Mildura.
All other states have quarantine programs in place. Strong support from the Federal Liberal and Nationals Government has already seen 1500 workers flown into the country.
Our farmers have been through fire and drought, now they’ve finally had a decent season but they can’t reap the benefits.
Daniel Andrews’ pig-headed arrogance is the last hurdle to getting workers onto Victorian farms.
Peter Walsh
Leader of The Nationals
Shadow Minister for Agriculture