Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to discuss British backpacker visa changes with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham during talks at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the Caribbean.
The discussions are likely to focus on encouraging more British working holiday makers to take jobs in regional and rural Australia, where they are currently exempt from the work requirements imposed on backpackers from other countries seeking visa extensions.
Matthew Heyes, founder of the Backpacker Job Board, welcomed efforts to direct British visitors towards areas facing labour shortages. However, he said the proposal was being undermined by planned visa changes affecting working holiday makers from other nations.
Under changes announced by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, those backpackers would enter a ballot system for second- and third-year visas. The number of second-year visas would be reduced from 57,000 to 45,000, while third-year visas would fall from 31,000 to 5,000.
“If the government wants British backpackers back in the regions, it must scrap the ballot proposal for everyone and guarantee the additional visa to eligible applicants who complete the required work,” Mr Heyes said.
“Under this ballot, that contribution might earn them nothing more than a lottery ticket.”
A spokesman for Mr Burke said the Australian Government remained committed to reducing net overseas migration while retaining the skills needed to keep nursing homes, hospitals and building sites operating.
The government’s preferred route for agricultural workers was the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, the spokesman said. The programme allows Australian businesses to recruit workers from nine Pacific island countries and East Timor to fill labour gaps in rural and regional areas, but had been underused.
Working holiday makers would nevertheless continue to make a significant contribution in regional areas, the spokesman added.
The Coalition has promised to remove caps on working holiday maker visas, although fees would rise for people seeking to remain in Australia beyond one year. Exemptions would apply to those who completed regional work.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor accused the Albanese Government of shifting responsibility to the UK, saying it had “lost control” and was proposing “a raffle for who is going to be able to stay in the country”.
Mr Taylor said regional and rural work for British backpackers was a Coalition policy “centrepiece”. “We do need an immigration policy that’s not mass migration, but skilled migration,” he said.
