TASKFORCE and whitepaper.
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Could there be two words which make the eyes glaze over any faster?
When they are used within a political context, it can be even more mind numbing and frankly, disheartening.
Still, these two phrases are being held up as high notes of progress from the federal government's recent Jobs Summit in relation to agricultural labour.
Federal agriculture minister Murray Watt said the taskforce was the first time the government had been able to get both the agriculture industry and the unions in the same room, which he labelled a "huge step forward" and "an historic agreement".
As one agricultural journalist put in his story's opening line: "The sound of farmers across the country rolling their collective eyes was almost audible when news of yet another taskforce into the sector's labour shortage was announced....".
That'd be pretty accurate.
The taskforce is made up of representatives from government, agricultural sector, meat processing industry and several unions.
It has been given 12 months to solve the labour shortage, which is estimated to be 172,000 workers from paddock to plate.
That's a big job. A huge job. A job, no-one has been able to successfully solve before COVID-19 hit, let alone during and since the pandemic.
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The taskforce will meet monthly from October and plans to release an employment whitepaper in about a year's time.
So, will that white paper contain a magic solution or formula for growers? Probably not.
Also, that's another 12 months away. There could be farmers that go to the wall well before then, unable to get crops off to sell or service bills and debts.
Meanwhile, the strain of finding a solution seems to have driven a wedge among once-congenial colleagues.
Nationals leader and former ag minister David Littleproud took a savage swipe at the National Farmers' Federation over a proposal to allow farmers to pay workers with fruit and vegetables.
It was one of 40 suggestions made by the peak farming body for the Jobs Summit.
He went further, labelling the organisation "cowards" for not backing the faltering ag visa that never seemed to get off the ground.
The NFF hit back, saying the comments were "incredibly disappointing".
"Either he's seriously misinformed and not across his brief about our [workforce shortage] submission, or else he's perhaps deliberately distorting the facts to get a bit of media attention and clickbait," NFF president Fiona Simson said.
Like a romantic couple breaking up, they seemed so united when it came to fighting for a common cause (ag visa) but have now descended into tiffs and blame.
The back-and-forth is not a good look and adds little to the worker solution, much like a whitepaper won't either.
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