Australia mango growers fear worker shortage from visa changes

DARWIN — Growers in Australia’s mango heartlands are warning that the fruits of their labor are at risk if federal changes to working holiday visas go ahead.

The Northern Territory (NT) government says the changes will leave the Top End mango harvest short of 1,000 workers, with 70 percent of the crop left to rot on the trees.

Growers, meanwhile, warn that fruit left on the trees would mean fewer mangoes making it to market, leading to higher prices for consumers.

Young backpackers are an essential labor force for Australian mango growers.

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Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has announced changes to the working holidaymaker visa program, reducing the cap on second-year visas from 57,000 to 45,000 and cutting third-year visas from 31,000 to 5,000.

Backpackers will have to enter a ballot for the chance to remain in Australia for more than a year, meaning there will be about 38,000 fewer second- and third-year backpackers than in 2026.

Mangoes are commercially grown in the Top End, Queensland, Western Australia and northern New South Wales, with the NT providing about 50 percent of the total crop. The harvest season runs from September to December.

Trevor Dunmall, CEO of Australian Mangoes, told AAP the visa changes were a major concern for those who needed pickers and packers during the harvest season.

“There are huge benefits to the industry having a readily available workforce,” he said.

“We’re really concerned that growers will not be able to pick the fruit and there will be less fruit available … for Australian consumers and those consumers around the world who love Australian mangoes.”

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The way the federal government had handled the migration debate was flawed, he said, because backpacker fruit pickers did not intend to stay in Australia.

NT Agriculture Minister Gerard Maley said the Top End faced being nearly 1,000 workers short for the mango harvest, leaving close to a million trays unpicked.

It would cripple the $128 million industry, which needed about 3,500 workers during harvest, he said in a statement.

Around 70 percent of the harvest would be left to rot, costing up to $27 million.

“This isn’t just a number on a spreadsheet, it’s fruit left rotting on trees, income lost by growers, fewer jobs in regional communities and less economic activity flowing through the territory,” Mr Maley said.

NT Opposition Leader Selena Uibo called on her federal Labor colleagues to give the territory a carve-out.

“The federal Labor government will show a complete lack of regard for the Northern Territory if they do not give us a carve-out,” she said. /dl