Picking winners

By Kath Gannaway
THE migrant generation gap, and a lack of accommodation for seasonal workers will need to be tackled sooner than later to assure the future stability of the Yarra Ranges horticulture industry according to a local grower.
With the exception of viticulture, the majority of horticulture businesses are in a triangle marked by Lilydale, Belgrave and Woori Yallock.
More than 5000 people per day are involved in picking and packing fruit, vegetables and flowers and in other jobs such as pruning.
According to Agribusiness-Yarra Valley, 75 per cent of the current workforce comes from first and second generation immigrants from the Melbourne suburbs.
But the supply is not guaranteed.
Coldstream strawberry grower and president of industry group Strawberries Australia Sam Violi has been in the industry for 30 years.
He has seen the transition from when the picking was done by locals “lining up to earn pick the fruit and earn a bit of money” to when the employment service would send out people, most of whom he says would work until morning tea, get their money and sign off.
“Everybody persevered with that scheme until the Vietnamese refugees came into the system and they have been a reliable source of labour,” he said.
David Barclay, Chair of the Labour Sub-Committee of Agribusiness-Yarra Valley said the current workforce generally want their children to go on to study and careers other than horticulture. Both he and Mr Violi are keen to see the results of a survey of 400 horticulture businesses being done by TNS Social Research on behalf of Agribusiness-YV and Yarra Ranges Council.
Businesses are being asked if they are having difficulty in recruiting workers, what their future demand for workers will be and if they have issues around accommodation.
The shortage of accommodation has been highlighted recently with the council bringing in a by-law to stop seasonal workers camping in public parks.
Mr Barclay says workers won’t come to Yarra Ranges if there isn’t sufficient accommodation of a reasonable standard but so far, nobody is providing that accommodation.
Mr Violi says the council needs to be more flexible in terms of allowing growers to provide accommodation on their farms but Yarra Ranges Council says they are constrained by State Government planning around Green Wedge zoning.
Simon O’Callaghan who is in charge of economic development with Yarra Ranges council said council was working with the horticulture industry to address the issues and had achieved some significant outcomes, including lobbying the federal government for the change of visa status for the region to attract back-packers.
“Council certainly recognises the value of horticulture to the region and have a unit that supports a number of projects in that area,” he said.
“These issues are a challenge, a short-term challenge, we hope, and we are working to find solutions.”
Mr Barclay said the seasonal workforce survey would provide good information on which to move forward, and urged growers to complete and return the questionnaire.
“The more people who complete it, the more confident we can be of the analysis of the survey results,” he said.
“With good data, the industry will be able to make better decisions on future strategies needed to ensure a stable seasonal workforce for this region.”
Mr Barclay can be contacted on 9735 1416 or 0448 008 422.