Canberra (TAN): In what is excellent news for long-term young travellers in India, Australia is planning to expand its working holiday visa programme to cover around a dozen more countries, including India.
According to an ABC report, the Australian government is planning this move to solve the labour crisis in the country. Under this programme, visitors will be able to go on an extended holiday and take up short-term employment to fund their travels.
Australia is also eyeing visitors from Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, Switzerland, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Andorra, Monaco and Mongolia under this programme apart from India.
“We know that working holiday-makers travel further into regional areas than most other international visitors,” Australia’s immigration minister David Coleman said. “They also spend substantial amounts, helping to boost regional economies.”
The new development will resolve labour shortages in regional areas, particularly on farms, hopes the minister.
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However, many in the country are skeptical about the scheme.
The Victorian farm lobby says it is impractical to expect backpackers alone to address the industry’s labour shortages and fears new changes could lead to more exploitation on farms.
“We need something more sustainable than that,” ABC quoted Victorian Farmers’ Federation vice-president Emma Germano as saying. “We’ve seen there’s been problems with the (backpacker) 417 and 462 visas in the past so the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, and yet here we are again.”
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The National Farmers’ Federation has offered in-principle support to the proposal.
Germano said though attempts to find more workers was “a good thing”, the list of countries targeted by the government could lead to on-farm exploitation.
