Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with NT Farmers Association CEO Paul Burke

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with NT Farmers Association CEO Paul Burke · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Mix one four point nine three point sixty coming to
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: your love today from the Darwin Waterfront and it is
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: all part of the Supercars. It's a fantastic time to
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: be in Darwin. And we know that the Merlin Dahwen
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Triple Crown it runs across three days out at Hidden Valley.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: It's going to be a fantastic event that there's so
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: much happening as well. In the lead in and today
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: we'll racing fans. You've got the chance to get up
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: close with your favorite drivers and riders before heading out
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: to Hidden Valley for a weekend of non stop adrenaline
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: pumping motor sport. And if you want to come down
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: and check out some of the vehicles as well, you're
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: able to do so. The Hot Wheels vehicles are here.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: There's one of the Nitro vehicles here as well, actually
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: a couple of them. There is a lot to see already,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: but we're down here at the beautiful waterfront where there's
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: plenty of lovely locations to come and eat. If you
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: want to come down and have a coffee as well,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: you're able to do that. Joining us on the line
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: right now to talk more about the changes to the visas,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: which we heard about yesterday with the Federal Minister and
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Tea And I'm joined on the line by NT Farmers
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: CEO Paul Burke. Good morning to you, Paul, Good.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Morning Katie, Good morning listeners.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Now, well, Paul, I know that NT Farmers have welcomed
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the government's commitment to introduce an agricultural visa. The visa
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: is going to allow people from certain countries to work
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: on Australian farms and enhance the value of well the
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: farming industry tell us a little bit more about how
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the visas are going to work.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Courtie. So the visas is something that the industry
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: has been fighting really hard for over a decade now.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: We've talked on this show a lot around our shortage
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: of workforce. So this opens up additional countries. So it's
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: all asy in country. So previously, with the Seasonal Worker
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Program and the PLS program, we've been confined to Pacific
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: rim nations. So now this opened it up to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: so we've got a larger pool of people to pick from.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: And in addition to that, it allows a little more flexibility.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: So this visa will allow multiple entries so people can
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: come and do a season, go home, and then come
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: back and do pruning, go home and then come back
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: and pick again. So it gives us a lot more
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: flexibility and allows us a mobile workforce coming back and returning.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and hopefully it really does help out with that
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: workforce shortage. But Paul, how soon do you anticipate that
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: these visas will really get underway or No? I asked
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: the Minister Dante and about that yesterday, but no sort
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: of clear date. Has there been much more information flow
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: through in the last twenty four hours.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: No, sadly not. We do know that it won't be
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: available for the mango season this year, which really means
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: we need to sort out a quarantine option for this
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: year for seasonal workers program, and that's going to be
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: critical for too long now that's been pushed up and
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: down the line and we don't have a clear pathway
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: to bring people in this year, and we need to
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: resolve that as quickly as possible. But certainly the ag
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: visa where we'd hope it will be ready for next
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: year and we won't be having this conversation.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I know that the changes really or trying
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: to work something out for this year. It cannot come
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: soon enough. We've spoken about the fact that it's required
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: sooner rather than later. But you know those mangos, well,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I would imagine that they're growing right now and they're
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: not far off, I'm assuming from getting to the point
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: where they need to be picked. So you need those staff.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: So yeah, that's right. They're a lot of at golf
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: ball size now and it's looking like a bumper year.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: So we need a solution for this year. The ag
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: visas welcome news for next year, but we really need
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: that quarantine option.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: So I mean, what are you going to do at
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: this point, Paul. If there isn't something that's able to
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: be worked out for this season, what is going to happen?
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Well, Katie, that's the million dollar question, and I guess
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: it might end up with you and I are doing
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: live crosses while we're picking mangoes because there isn't an alternative.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: We've had the melon industry support program, which was really welcome.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: We needed two hundred workers for that. We've managed to
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: secure sixty seven onto farm over the last seven weeks
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: and we're hobbling through. But workers on those farms are
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: working really long hours, So it's not going to be
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: a solution to the mango season. So we need those
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: workers coming in from the Pacific countries.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we must certainly do. And yeah, I've got to
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: I don't know that I'd be overly helpful to you, Paul.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: And it is so critical that you have that you've
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: got workers that are actually you know that can be
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: trained quite well in this space too, because you've got
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: to make sure they're they're correctly picked and packed and
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: everything so that they're at the standard that they need
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: to be to export.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: That's exactly right. And we don't want to be in
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: a situation where we're picking fruit, we're processing the fruit, fruit,
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: we're packing it in a box, and then we're transporting
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: it all the way to our eastern and southern markets
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: only defined that it doesn't meet the market specs, that
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: to cost that growers can't afford to bear another season, Paul.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Yesterday we also we had now the Federal Minister Dan
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Tea and on the show to talk about the UK
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Australia Free Trade Deal and to speak about the benefits,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: hopefully of that free trade deal being reached. How do
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: you anticipate that this is going to impact the world
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: of farming sector.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: So there are some positives for the farming sector in
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: the end t I mean more broadly across Australia, there's
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: some very big positives. But I guess for the Northern territory,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: the more skilled visa coming out of the UK will
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: allow us to recruit things like agronomus and technical stuff
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: that we can't source here in Australia, so that's certainly pleasing.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: And there's some opportunities around rice that we know we
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: can grow here and other items. So I think there
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: will be some positives. It's just it's probably too early
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: to tell. They signed an agreement that they're progressing it.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: But the devil, like everything, the devil will be in
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: the detail.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt about that. Well, Anti Farmer's CEO Paul Burke,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: it is always good to catch up with you. Always
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: appreciate your time, mate. Thank you so very much for
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: having a chat with us today.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, and maybe one day we won't be talking
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: about workforce all the time.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, well, I really hope that this is
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: able to be sorted for you guys. I know that
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: it is such an acute tissue at the moment, especially
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: when you talk about our Mango season. So yeah, I
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: think we both I'm hoping, well, not as much as you,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: but I'm certainly hoping that we're able to get this
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: issue sorted.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, Thanks listeners, Thanks for