WITH grape picking approaching next month, Coonawarra vignerons are relying on international labourers to make the journey to the region to help kick-start the year’s vintage.
A year on from the introduction of the Federal Government’s Backpacker Tax, Raidis Estate’s Steve Raidis said he had hoped it did not affect numbers of international backpackers seeking work in the region.
“March is the month picking begins, so exact numbers will be revealed then,” Mr Raidis said.
He said a decrease in labourer numbers was a big concern.
“A lack of labourers is always an issue as handpicking is essential with producing fine wine,” Mr Raidis said.
From January 1 last year, a tax rate of 15pc applied for those on working holidays on earnings up to $37,000.
This decision came following an original proposal of a 32.5pc tax, which was slashed following extensive lobbying over concerns about its impact on the agricultural workforce.
When announced, the new rate was welcomed by farmers and growers across the country, which saw a 15pc tax on all working holidaymakers with no tax free threshold and a 65pc tax on early departure withdrawal of superannuation for backpackers.
Mr Raidis said before the 18 month saga was resolved, uncertainty was the biggest contributor to the lack of labourers coming to the country.
“During that period we were unsure if it was going ahead or not , so many backpackers were saying they were not travelling to Australia due to being left in the dark,” he said.
“At least now we can say this is the tax and that is going to be the way it is.”
Advocate for the reduction of the backpacker tax, Member for Barker Tony Pasin said in addition to the 15pc tax rate the negotiated package included increasing the maximum age for working holidaymakers to 35 and providing $10m in additional funding for Tourism Australia for a global youth-targeted marketing campaign.
“The Coalition was able to negotiate a deal at 15pc that saw a fair rate of tax being paid by working holidaymakers (non-residents) while not discouraging these workers from coming and providing much needed labour to our primary producers,” Mr Pasin said.
“It also included providing an additional $10m in funding to the Australian Taxation Office and the Fair Work Ombudsman to establish the employer register and assist with ongoing compliance initiatives and to address workplace exploitation of working holidaymakers.”
In addition, he said it had also allowed working holiday makers to stay with one employer for up to 12 months, as long as the second six months is worked in a different region.
“It is a fantastic package and one that is seeing positive results for many primary producers,” Mr Pasin said.
“Across the board we have seen a steady number of working holidaymakers coming to Australia and being employed in seasonal agricultural work helping to get the fruit off the tree, off the vine and off to market.”
