LABOR’S WRONG MIGRATION PRIORITIES HURT REGIONAL AUSTRALIA
The Albanese Labor Government is wrong to fix its migration mess by choking off the backpackers who pick Australian crops and keep regional tourism and hospitality businesses running.
Reports that Working Holiday Maker visa applications from 24 countries have been quietly paused come as Labor considers further restrictions on the program as part of its attempt to reduce net overseas migration.
Shadow Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Senator McDonald said costs for WHM visas had also been increased, which would further limit the number foreign workers.
“From Cooktown to Katherine and Bowen to the Barossa, regional Australia stops without working backpackers. They are picking our fruit and vegetables, working on farms, pouring beers, making beds and keeping tourism businesses operating,” she said.
“In North Queensland and regional communities across Australia, these workers fill genuine seasonal shortages that businesses simply cannot fill locally. They also spend money in these towns.
“Yet Labor has quietly put up the stop sign to these valued workers while it works out how to get its migration numbers down.
“That is completely backwards. Regional employers who desperately need workers should not become collateral damage for Labor’s shambolic approach to migration.”
Official Department of Home Affairs figures show that at 30 June 2025 there were 592,342 student visa holders in Australia, compared with 210,971 Working Holiday Makers, meaning there were about 2.8 student visa holders for every backpacker.
Senator McDonald said that while WHM visa numbers had since grown, the Government needed to look carefully at the value of migration rather than taking an indiscriminate approach to reducing the headline number.
“Working Holiday Makers do count towards migration but if Labor wants to bring numbers down, it needs to ask which visa programs are delivering workers Australia genuinely needs and which parts of the system need reform,” she said.
“Student visa holders are here primarily to study and are generally limited to working 48 hours a fortnight while their course is in session.
“Working Holiday Makers, on the other hand, are specifically permitted to work during their stay, and they provide a mobile workforce that regional areas rely on.
“They go where the work is. They pick and pack fruit and vegetables, work in hospitality and tourism, and help businesses get through seasonal peaks when there simply aren’t enough local workers available.
“For many farmers, particularly in horticulture, having enough workers at harvest time can be the difference between getting a crop to market and watching it rot.
“The Government needs to come clean about what it is doing with the Working Holiday Maker program and what further restrictions it has planned.”
ENDS