Now that the borders have been sealed shut, Australia’s seen a major shortage in fruit pickers – namely, people on working holiday visas who need to do farm work to extend their stay. In response, farmers say they’ve been begging locals to do the work, sometimes promising weekly incomes of up to $3,800.
The problem is, earning this much is almost impossible.
Among the backpackers PEDESTRIAN.TV spoke to, many reported making far, far less than that per week.
“I worked hard and I got between $500 and $700 per week,” former blueberry picker Elyse Rinzema told P.TV.
The 27-year-old Dutch backpacker wanted to extend her visa to stay in Perth with her Kiwi boyfriend, but to do that, she had to pick fruit.
“Australians don’t do this job now because it’s just so shit; backpackers only do this job because we want to stay in the country,” she added.
“If you got $3,000 a week, then this job would be bearable.”
Many backpackers only do the minimum 88 days of farm work needed to extend their visa for a second year, before heading back to the cities.
Ultimately, Rinzema said unless farms are desperate and willing to pay more to get through the season, it’s highly unlikely an Aussie fruit picker could earn over $3,000 per week.
Rinzema’s experience of earning around $600 per week was repeated by over 15 fruit pickers P.TV contacted, regardless of what fruit and what part of the country they worked in.
This pay is also before paying for farm accommodation, which can also be hundreds of dollars in some cases.
“I definitely didn’t earn $3,000 a week but the money wasn’t bad either,” said one person.
“You’re telling me a fruit picker will earn more than doctors, lawyers, architects and contractors?” said another backpacker, who opted to work on a chicken farm after learning about the pay on fruit farms.
One person who picked capsicums added: “It was hard work but we enjoyed it and we got paid quite well in comparison to what I am seeing [among other backpackers].”
In all, the weekly earnings reported to P.TV ranged from $200 to $1,200. Hours varied greatly, but so too did bucket rates – the amount earned from filling one bucket of fruit.
Whether fruit picking is a decent job is decent is up for debate. The work can be back-breaking at times, and you’re often exposed to the sun all day.
For a few backpackers P.TV contacted, it was a chance to live a relaxed farm life, but for others, it verged on exploitation.
While the farmer from the original Courier Mail article admitted the $3,800 rate was for “a top picker working six days a week, probably around ten hours a day,” this case is clearly the exception rather than the rule.
There’s a reason why the fruit picking industry is so dependent on backpackers who are legally obliged to work on farms. If these places were really paying over three grand per week, everyone would be doing it.
