Tongan workers, Australian farmers reap benefits of Pacific work scheme Featured
Tongan men harvesting Ironbark Citrus' mandarins as part of the Pacific Island Seasonal Workers Scheme
Nuku'alofa, 4 July 2015. An Australian Government labour program has laid the foundations for a unique relationship between families in Tonga and an Australian citrus producer.
One of the biggest challenges facing food producers is finding experienced workers during peak production periods.
To help try and solve this problem the Seasonal Worker Programme was introduced, allowing Australian farmers to source workers from ten Pacific Island countries for short periods of time.
It has solved an orange grower's labour shortage and at the same time has helped build houses and personal wealth in Tonga.
The Seasonal Worker Programme was changed recently to allow Australian tourism operators to also access labour from the same pool, and the cap was removed on the number of employees who can participate in the scheme.
Source: ABC News
