THE current debate around immigration in Australia and how it could impact visa programs that agriculture relies on, has been a popular topic of conversation at a number of red meat industry events in the last three months.
“I am not sure if people understand the implications when they say they don’t want immigration,” Melissa Fletcher from Fletcher International Exports said at the Intercollegiate Meat Judging National Conference last month.
“Labour is one of the biggest things for the processing industry and we are a small population.
“Whether it’s the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme or Australian workers, we need people, regardless of how much innovation and technology we have, we still need people in the room.
“So I worry about labour and how politics could jeopardise the workforce programs. That scares me.”
The meat industry is now the largest manufacturing employer in Australia, employing 67,000 people, which includes approximately 20,000 migrant workers, according to the Australian Meat Industry Council.
“Australia’s meat processing sector relies on overseas workers to help address chronic workforce shortages, particularly in regional and rural communities where attracting and retaining labour remains a significant challenge,” Jemma Harper, AMIC’s General Manager Corporate Affairs said.
“These workers are critical to maintaining processing capacity, supporting livestock supply chains and ensuring a reliable food supply.”
Ms Harper said the migrant labour programs complement the industry’s ongoing commitment to recruiting, training and retaining Australian workers.
“The PALM scheme and skilled migration pathways, including the Meat Industry Labour Agreement (MILA), are among the most important workforce programs for our sector,” she said.
“These pathways help processors fill roles that have proven difficult to recruit for locally, including skilled meatworkers, boners, slicers, slaughterers and butchers.
“Access to skilled migration and labour mobility programs remains essential to the ongoing viability of many meat businesses and the communities they support.
“The ability to supplement our workforce with migrant labour is necessary to maintain capacity and production. Livestock processing is critical to producer livelihoods and our ability to feed people.”
Feedlots have become increasingly reliant on overseas workers
The question was raised at the Protein 2026 conference in May, if agriculture should be standing up against anti-immigration, given the industry’s reliance on overseas workers.
The room was filled with representatives from a number of intensive animal industries as well as grains.
“We need immigration or we will be in a lot of trouble. Immigration is vital for the ag sector and without it, I would hate to see what the cost of goods would be or where industry would be,” Kelli McDougall, Partner of recruitment agency Agri Talent responded at the event.
The question was asked to a panel which included lotfeeder Bryce Camm, Chief Executive Officer of Camm Agricultural Group.
“The agricultural sector would crumble and fail tomorrow without a foreign labour force lifting us up,” Mr Camm said.
“I would hate to think what would happen in the intensive animal industries. We would not function, is the reality.”
The flow on benefits of bringing overseas workers to regional communities for agricultural jobs was also highlighted in the discussion.
“The second largest demographic in the Western Downs Regional Council area is now people from the Philippines,” Mr Camm said.
“There are now multiple generations in this area who came here for agricultural jobs, who moved their families here and their families are contributing to our society.”
The Australian Lot Feeders Association (ALFA) has lobbied for easier migration pathways to employ both skilled and unskilled workers.
“Feedlots contribute more than $4.6 billion to the Australian economy and employs 2,000 people directly and 30,000 indirectly,” an ALFA submission paper on regional migration said.
“The feedlot industry requires employees that not only have skills sought through formal qualifications, but those that have skills gained through practical experience and a passion for livestock.
“Skilled and knowledgeable people are vital for the successful operation of a feedlot.
“It is important that the Regional Migration Setting provide pathways for skilled and unskilled workers to enter and stay within the feedlot industry.”
The Federal Government’s review of Regional Migration Settings has not yet been finalised despite the Migration Strategy first being released for review in 2023.
I think we need to be careful about the type of immigration which is probably more aligned with the general sentiment. there are countless stories of English, Irish, Scottish, Zimbabwean, south African etc that spend thousands to get there residency and or get scared by the cost and we lose some fantastic talent that we have trained and would fit in well with our society. I think the type we don’t want is the type that mainstream media won’t call out. i think there knife skills are more directed towards “causing disruptions to our community” to put it nicely. I think that is what frustrates me as a farmer and small business operater who has has multiple first hand experiences with good honest hard working people who want to be here but the system kicks them out but makes room for hundreds of thousands of people who go straight into welfare and cost our country billions we dont have. cheers Matthew Della Gola
As a significant organization involved in the training and recruitment of a large number of smart, young, educated and highly motivated young Vietnamese workers from our three training abattoirs in Vietnam I see first- hand the positive contribution these young people make to an ever-changing technically more complex Meat processing industry throughout the breadth of Australia.
Real talent for what is largely a regional area’s biggest employer.
Skills desperately needed to service a diverse and multi -faceted industry significantly adding value to both the financial and intellectual depth of these regional centers.
Good to see Mintrac at the forefront of industry initiatives to provide basic and advanced skills training strongly aligned with the industry’s strategic growth.