An " Open door " immigration policy ?

It will seem strange to many people that on the one hand we are strenuously trying to stop people smugglers putting people on leaky boats in their quest to become citizens of this country - and on the other hand we are actually paying citizens of the Pacific islands to our north to come here to pick fruit !

In mid 2012 a $ 21.7 million scheme will get under way to bring in " guest workers " from the north - including those from East Timor - to alleviate the chronic shortage of people prepared to work on the task of bringing in our fruit and vegetable crops.   As things stand, each year a proportion of the harvest either rots on the trees because of lack of pickers - or is ploughed in to substitute for fertiliser.

At the same time, we have 5.2% of our population unemployed and receiving dole benefits - because they simply can not find a job !

What is unforgivable is that some unemployed actually live right in the heart of districts that have a desperate need of pickers - and they will still be picking dole cheques out of their letterboxes when foreign workers arrive to do the jobs they clearly reject.

There are many excuses for avoiding farm work.  "  The job is too hard ".   "  I have to work in the sun - and it is too hot. "    "  It doesn't pay well enough . "

Fruit picking is paid by the weight picked by each worker, and in the past overseas students on their semester break and whole families of Australians have made a nice living moving from district to district as each crop matures.     The problem seems to be that some of the unemployed consider W-O-R-K to be a four letter word - to be avoided at all costs.

It seems inevitable that some of our " guest workers " from the islands will see this as an oportunity to gain entry to this country - and continue to remain here when their contract expires.   They will then end up being pursued by immigration authorities, and when caught will probably share the same detention centres occupied by the boat people.

It seems to be a matter of priorities - and many will wonder why Centrelink does not get tough with those unemployed who are fit and healthy enough to solve our harvest problem - but refuse to take the jobs offering.

Perhaps if these jobs were offered to the boat people - two problems would be solved instantly !