18 Sept 2026
The Queensland Farmers’ Federation and its peak body members have been left bitterly disappointed by reforms to the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa program announced yesterday that will cut a vital supply of labour in regional Queensland.
QFF CEO Kylie Porter said the reductions to WHM visa numbers in years two and three of the program will have significant impacts on regional economies as sectors such as tourism, agriculture, and hospitality compete for a reduced labour pool.
“We’re looking at significant cuts to the numbers of backpackers in our regions with current information suggesting WHM visa numbers will be reduced by around 53 percent. On top of these cuts is the introduction of a ballot system for years two and three which will actively disincentivise backpackers from working in the regions at all,” Ms Porter said.
“We’re also disappointed by the continued delays to WHM visa processing from the current pause. While we welcome the restoration of processing following the recent pause, three months to process these visas is still too long and we are already seeing the impacts in our regions.”
Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers CEO Scott Kompo-Harms has labelled the changes as disastrous and short sighted.
“Given the seasonal nature of production in horticulture, our growers and supply chain are highly exposed to these changes, with working holiday makers comprising up to 80 percent of labour supply during seasonal peaks in horticulture,” Mr Kompo-Harms said.
“It is deeply disappointing that the Minister has set his sights on a highly effective visa program that provides a steady seasonal workforce across Queensland. These aren’t the migrants that Australians are competing with for housing, these are temporary workers that are supporting the production of affordable, nutritious fresh produce across the country.”
Cotton Australia General Manager, Michael Murray said the cotton industry is highly reliant on the backpacker program to fill seasonal roles where local labour is unavailable, with working holiday makers contributing to around 25 percent of the industry’s workforce.
“Backpackers are an important part of the cotton, and agricultural workforce as a whole – acting as a stopgap where we need all hands-on deck for a few months of the year, but don’t have enough work throughout the year to keep workers in the region,” Mr Murray said.
“These backpackers come to the regions, they work across a range of sectors, they spend money locally and they leave when the work is done – it is a great way for travellers to see and be a part of regional Australia and it is a great way for regional employers to source labour that would otherwise be unavailable.”
CANEGROWERS Australia CEO Dan Galligan noted that with one in seven agriculture roles nationally being filled by a working holiday maker, these changes present a significant challenge to a sector already struggling with workforce shortages.
“The Australian cane industry, and indeed agriculture as a whole, has been open about the challenges faced in employing staff for the high intensity, short-term harvest periods that are typical on farms across Queensland,” Mr Galligan said.
“It is baffling then that the Australian Government, without proper consultation is now proposing to take away an estimated 10,000 visitors who would otherwise be working and spending their money in regional communities across Queensland each year.”
Greenlife Industry Queensland CEO Colin Fruk said that seasonal labour is not a marginal issue for production nurseries.
“At certain times of the year it is not uncommon for a nursery business to effectively double its workforce to meet production, maintenance and dispatch demands,” Mr Fruk said.
“These disruptions have come at precisely the wrong time. As Queensland moves into the hotter growing months, our growers should be scaling up, not wondering whether the workers they were relying on will be available. About 95 per cent of production nurseries are small, family-owned businesses. They don’t have the ability to turn on a dime when policy changes. When government decisions disrupt a source of seasonal labour that these businesses have planned around, the impact is immediate and very real for mum-and-dad operators across regional Queensland.”
eastAUSmilk CEO Eric Danzi said the dairy industry was also a significant beneficiary of the WHM visa program.
“Like other industries, dairy farms are drawing on every workforce pathway that they can and working holiday makers are obviously part of that. We’re dealing with livestock, and so in addition to the productivity and profitability concerns, there's the compounding issues of farm safety and challenges with livestock care for understaffed farms to manage,” Mr Danzi said.
QFF and our peak body members strongly urge the Federal Government to restore the numbers of working holiday makers across the three-year program, to expedite the processing of WHM visas and to work actively in consultation with the agriculture sector on a path forward for reasonable regional migration.
“Agriculture must be consulted, and Australia’s regional economy must be considered, before changes are made to essential employment pathways for our sector,” Ms Porter said.
“While we welcome the naming of agriculture as a priority sector in Ministerial Direction 119, the chaos unleashed by the slowdown to working holiday maker processing ahead of the busiest time of year for food, fibre and foliage production is crippling any goodwill that may have come from the regions as part of these changes.”
Media contact:
Jak Kirwin
General Manager, Marketing and Communications, QFF
E: comms@qff.org.au
M: 0488 305 106