Announcements on the upcoming budget reveal have been coming thick and fast, and while some are out in the world others have been teased out leaving residents eager for details.
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Two of these long-awaited items: incentives to bring Aussies to fruit-picking and harvesting jobs, and the subsidisation of trainee and apprenticeship wages from Monday.
Harvest help
One such person is Gunnible's Robert Hoddle, a citrus farmer near Gunnedah.
The government has said plans, to be revealed tonight, will include details on the incentives for Aussies to come and work on farms as fruit pickers and harvest workers.
"It's absolutely great, anything that can be done to ease the pressure on our labour shortages," he said of the initiative.
These [visa holders] have now gone, backpackers won't come or will drift away - and we will be left with crops that cannot be harvested.
- Robert Hoddle
But he paired that with the belief that unless there was something like an accompanying travel bubble or quarantine arrangement with the Pacific Islands, they still will not have enough workers to fill their demand.
"We were very fortunate this harvest, as we found some Vanuatu men who had their visa extended by the Federal Government, and made up the rest with backpackers and a few locals," he said.
"But it's next year that worries me. These [visa holders] have now gone, backpackers won't come or will drift away - and we will be left with crops that cannot be harvested."
He said even with the government incentives, it would be hard to attract people to the "hot and hard" work due to social benefits currently on offer.
And that's without factoring in the logistics of someone with an established life in the city moving just for a season, causing havoc with lease agreement cancellation, as just one example.
I think while we have a high level of social welfare people will be reluctant to come here.
- Robert Hoddle
"I think while we have a high level of social welfare people will be reluctant to come here," he said.
"The Pacific Islanders need the work, they have structured their lives around our harvest seasons."
Apprentice appeal
The Federal Government has also announced a $1.2 billion wage subsidy scheme for 100,000 trainees and apprentices.
It will pay 50 per cent of their wages for a year, for any new hires from October 5.
VERTO chief Ron Maxwell said the incentive was "outstanding news", saying this was one big ticket item he had been looking out for.
"Unfortunately thousands of apprentices, trainees and employees have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic since February this year," he lamented.
This $1.2 billion investment will significantly help combat the current national skills shortage and be a massive injection for the Australian and local Tamworth and Gunnedah economies.
- Ron Maxwell
"This $1.2 billion investment will significantly help combat the current national skills shortage and be a massive injection for the Australian and local Tamworth and Gunnedah economies."
Not only will the funding give more people in the region exciting, real-life employment and training opportunities, he said it will be a huge boost for local businesses who may have had to reduce staff or decrease business because of necessary cost-cutting measures.
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Business NSW regional manager Joe Townsend also welcomed the move, saying the need to address the skills shortages had been in their pre-budget submissions.
"We also know that this years high school leavers are in the middle of a tough year," he explained.
"So this subsidy will give them some comfort that they will find a vocation that gives them valuable skills that serve them a lifetime."
