The Tasmanian Government is to spend nearly $2 million, over the next two years, to encourage the state's residents to help fill a massive labour gap caused by coronavirus.
Tasmanian Primary Industries Minister Guy Barnett said a survey had identified the closure of international and state borders could mean up to 5000 backpackers and seasonal workers were not able to travel to Tasmania over summer and autumn.
From August 20, all non-essential travellers, including Tasmanian and non-Tasmanian residents, must have prior approval to enter the State.
If approved, they will have to spent 14 days in quarantine.
Mr Barnett said the $1.9 million Agricultural Workforce Resilience Package would help horticulture and viticulture with their demand for harvest workers, during spring and summer.
"COVID-19 will create labour challenges for the coming harvest seasons and we need to position our agricultural businesses so that they can adapt and respond to these labour force disruptions," Mr Barnett said.
"By mobilising Tasmanians into the agricultural workforce through this process we can help maintain industry productivity across key sectors like fruit, horticulture, wine, dairy and wool."
The package includes:
- "Feed our State" local agricultural jobs campaign linked to the national harvest trail and to encourage Tasmanians who are struggling to find employment to consider a new career option.
- A two-year boost to the Strategic Industry Partnership Program to co-invest with the industry peak bodies and organisations to support industry resilience, promotion and targeted skills, training and workforce development.
- A Strategic Industry Partnership Program industry-sponsored boost to regional transport.
- An extension to the Farmpoint hotline and AgriGrowth liaison officers to provide a single critical point of contact for primary producers.
- A boost to Safe Farming Tasmania to ensure new agricultural employees are workforce ready and to provide COVID safe workplaces.
"We want to get the job done, to ensure that you can grow local, harvest local, and buy local," Mr Barnett said.
"We say Tasmanians get out there and do the job; we are backing you.
"This will support across the board the wine industry, the fruit industry, agriculture and obviously the wool sector as well.
"We are saying Tasmania first we want Tasmanians in those jobs and this will give opportunities for Tasmanians to get those jobs."
Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association chief executive Peter Skillern said members were happy to see there was a government initiative, in the area of workforce shortages.
"I don't think anyone underestimated the challenged the season workforce capacity shortage is going to present us, later in the year," Mr Skillern said.
"In essence, local people need to be assisting, where they can, in the coming season, bearing in mind we don't know, no-one does globally, where this thing is going to end."
He said all areas of agriculture would need seasonal workers.
"There is quite a raft of positions available, the challenge is finding people to fill those roles."
Mr Skillern said TFGA was in discussions with the government in relations to training, as some jobs required specialist skills.
"For example, picking cherries - you just don't walk into an orchard and start picking cherries," he said.
"If you pick them the wrong way, you will effectively destroy next year's crop."
He said members had "a fair level of concern" about the lack of capacity.
"I think there is some scepticism about whether locals will readily put their hands up for these jobs - time will tell, on that."
Harvest Moon co-owner Mark Kable, who is also the Tasmanian Agricultural Productivity Group chair, said farmers were very concerned about the border closures.
"We would like to think the people are there, and we have to entice them out of their homes and onto the farms," Mr Kable said.
"In some of the more remote areas, getting people to work may be difficult in terms of how transport and accommodation goes.
"If we can't do that, there's going to be a lot of disappointment in our industry. "There's a lot of crops that won't be picked."
But he said anything that was going to help had to be positive.
"Its will be very difficult without the seasonsal workers, but having said that the backbone of our workforce are locals."
He said seasonal workers filled about 50 per cent of the labour force requirements during Christmas to May.
"It's a lot, we have relied on them heavily for the past 10-15 years, so we are very nervous about the outcomes, without a doubt."
Fruit Growers Tasmania vice president Howard Hansen said the sector was very nervous about the upcoming season.
"Any funding that is going to assist help solve the seasonal worker program, we welcome with open arms," Mr Hansen said.
But he said the most significant issue was the short timeframe for harvest.
"Many industries are only harvesting for four or five weeks for a time, and we can often see that Tasmanians find it is not worthwhile to lose their access to their Jobseeker benefits, to then take that short period of work."
He called on the federal government to change the rules, to allow seasonal workers to earn up to $10,000, with losing access to their benefits.
Mr Barnett said the government acknowledged those on JobSeeker and JobKeeper were reluctant to lose access to benefits, for a short period of work in the agricultural sector.
"We have had ongoing discussions with our federal and state and territory counterparts, with respect to JobSeeker and JobKeeper," Mr Barnett said.
But he said the government would work with the sector to provide incentives to deliver training, and offset transport cost, to get people to where they needed to go.
"Our first priority is Tasmania and Tasmanians, Tasmanians, Tasmanians for these jobs."
Have you signed up to Stock & Land's daily newsletter? Register below to make sure you are up to date with everything that's important to Victorian agriculture .