By Peter Hobson
CANBERRA, Sept 18 (Reuters) – A crackdown on immigration could cause labour shortages across the agricultural sector and threaten the upcoming wheat harvest, Australian farm groups said, joining a slew of business groups warning that tighter migration rules could hit the economy.
Australia’s centre-left Labor government on Thursday announced a raft of measures to reduce annual immigration by tens of thousands of people.
The new rules will include a ballot system that restricts the number of working holiday maker visa holders who can extend their stay into a second or third year. Also known as backpacker visas, these are used by farms and other rural businesses including the hospitality and tourism sectors.
Processing time for these visas will increase to three months from what farm groups said was previously just a few days.
Australia is the world’s third-biggest exporter of wheat and a huge shipper of other products ranging from canola and barley to beef and wine.
One in seven farm jobs is occupied by a worker on a backpacker visa and the proportion is far higher in some areas and during harvest periods when extra labour is needed, the National Farmers’ Federation said.
The government had already implemented a go-slow on the granting of working holiday maker visas, leaving some farms without enough staff, said NFF President Hamish McIntyre.
“Farmers need approvals in days, not months. For many farms, three months is the difference between harvesting a crop and losing it,” he said, adding that labour shortages could reduce production and push up prices.
Australia’s harvest of winter crops including wheat will begin in the coming weeks.
“There’s a real risk that crops will be left to rot and remote businesses just won’t be able to operate,” said opposition lawmaker Susan McDonald, the shadow minister for resources and northern Australia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government is under pressure from a resurgent right-wing populist party, One Nation, to tighten the country’s borders.
Immigration has ranked among voters’ top concerns in recent polls. The government plan also restricts the ability of foreign students to bring family members to Australia.
“Almost one in three occupations in this country are short of workers right now,” said Bran Black, CEO of the Business Council of Australia.
“That translates to not enough workers building homes, caring for us in hospitals and aged care homes, delivering infrastructure and powering the energy transition. That is the challenge that any migration policy should be looking to solve,” he said.
Immigration into Australia surged after the country reopened its borders in February 2022 following nearly two years of COVID-19 closures. The rise was driven largely by international students, backpackers and temporary workers.
However, numbers have been declining over the past two years. Net overseas migration stood at 306,000 people in the year to June 30, 2025, down from a peak of 556,000 in the year to September 30, 2023.
(Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Praveen Menon and Stephen Coates)
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