Community & Business
5 July, 2023
Concern over visa changes
Concerns are growing over how the Federal Government’s new working holiday visa rules will affect the number of backpackers making their way to the region to work in either the agricultural or tourism sectors.
Concerns are growing over how the Federal Government’s new working holiday visa rules will affect the number of backpackers making their way to the region to work in either the agricultural or tourism sectors.
On 1 July, the government increased the cost of the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa by $130 to $640, making it the highest fee visa of its kind in the world.
The government is also considering cutting the WHM visa to one-year and removing any regional work requirements.
WHM visa holders make up to 80 per cent of the harvest labour force in horticulture, while in other commodities they account for 5-15 per cent of the junior, casual and seasonal workforce.
Federal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch has declared the Albanese Government’s two-pronged attack on backpackers a devastating blow to the region’s community and local economy.
Mr Entsch said Leichhardt relied on backpackers to work in essential industries and support businesses by spending their money locally.
“By making the Working Holiday Maker visa so expensive it will discourage backpackers from coming to Australia, which means fewer workers helping out in agriculture and hospitality jobs and fewer visitors supporting our tourism businesses,” he said.
“If Labor cuts the backpacker visa to just one year, it will devastate our local economy as well as other regional economies around the country.”
There are more than 180,000 WHM visa holders currently in Australia who are spending money on holidays and working in critical industries.
Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Dan Tehan said the backpacker sector contributed $3 billion to the economy and helped address critical workforce shortages, especially in regional Australia.
“Labor is making backpackers the scapegoat for their Big Australia policy. Under Labor 1.5 million people are coming to Australia over five years in the middle of a housing crisis, and Anthony Albanese’s solution is to price backpackers out of coming here,” he said.
“Labor’s attack on backpackers will be disastrous for our tourism and agriculture sectors and it will make us a less attractive destination for visitors.”
Shadow Minister Tehan said limiting the WHM visa to one year was a key recommendation in Labor’s Review of the Migration System, that was provided to government in March. He said even the Labor Government-funded Tourism Australia was calling for the WHM program to be expanded and made cheaper not cut.
