Arabic version: تغييرات التأشيرات تثير مخاوف بشأن القوى العاملة الإقليمية

According to ABC News, experts say Labor’s changes to the working holiday visa system could leave backpacker-dependent regional areas short of staff and create electoral pressure in Queensland.

The number of third-year working holiday visa places has fallen from 31,000 last year to just over 5,000. Italian backpacker Rocco Raseri, who completed six months as a chef in Far North Queensland, said he would have made different choices if he had known a place was not guaranteed. He said he might have sought sponsorship in a capital city or travelled rather than remaining in Cairns.

Australian National University political marketing expert Andrew Hughes said the policy protected Labor’s city-based support at the expense of regions that rely on backpackers during peak seasons. He identified the Far North Queensland electorate of Leichhardt as a key test, saying the changes presented a significant challenge for Labor MP Matt Smith.

Mr Smith won Leichhardt, which stretches from Cairns to the Torres Strait, on a 9.5 per cent swing at last year’s federal election. Dr Hughes said Queensland was particularly vulnerable, citing a Newspoll that put One Nation on 36 per cent in the state and Labor on 25 per cent.

James Cook University political scientist Maxine Newlands said regional representatives needed to focus on community-led solutions. She warned that reducing the regional workforce could repeat shortages seen during COVID. Mr Smith said he was consulting tourism and agriculture bodies in Cairns and would raise proposed solutions with Immigration Minister Tony Burke. He said expanding the Pacific Area Labor Mobility scheme was a viable option and stressed the need to maintain regional workforces.