Victorian stone fruit farmers Peta and Mick Thornton know better than most the one thing Australian farmers could not live without. When it comes to finding reliable workers, they know exactly where to look. While consumers may not realise it, the backbone of Aussie produce is largely international workers and immigrants.
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The term “immigration” is often linked to the challenges facing the Australia’s economy, such as housing availability. What is left untold, however, are the stories of international workers keeping Australian industries afloat, especially agriculture.
The Thorntons are the owners of Temba Orchards, a long-standing family business established in 1966 by Mick’s parents. Located in the farming district of Woorinen, just outside Swan Hill, Temba Orchards produces peaches and nectarines that are sold both across Australia and overseas.
Ms Thornton says that international workers are essential to their farm’s operations, as well as just about the entire farming district in the Mallee.
According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES), horticultural farms use the most international workers compared to any other Australian industry. Research into the total number of immigrants working on Australian farms is difficult to tally, due to short visas and undocumented workers. Despite these factors, ABARES research shows that international workers make up at least half of all horticultural workforce across Australia. ABARES also predicts there are currently between 60,000 to 100,000 undocumented workers within Australian farms.
“At this point in time, multicultural workers are a huge part of our business. They make up about 80 per cent of our workforce and that goes from the harvest workers to some of our key staff members,” Ms Thornton says.
Tu Le, 37, is one of the Thornton’s most reliable workers, joining Temba Orchards in 2011. Le first came to Australia to visit his cousin after graduating university in Vietnam. During his stay, Le met an Australian teacher who encouraged him to study agriculture at TAFE and apply for a working visa. Almost 15 years later, Le remains a valued worker at Temba Orchards. His role includes managing staff and leading operations.
“The money I earn in one week in Australia would take me one month to earn in Vietnam,” Le says. “But the expenses cost the same as here. That is why it is so hard for my family … they are struggling with life pretty hard back there.”
“Working for my family is my mission.”
Le has been attempting to gain permanent residency in Australia for the past three years. “Every time I try, the law changes slightly. Last time, I prepared what they required, all of the requirements. Then it changed and now I need to get my English certificate for the permanent residency. It is very, very hard,” he says. His last attempt was unsuccessful due to the English language component.
Le enjoys working in Woorinen and plans to continue supporting his family in Vietnam while preparing to sit the English test again.
According to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration, when Covid-19 struck in 2020, Australia saw more than 500,000 temporary visa holders return to their home countries. This left farming communities virtually stranded. Temba Orchards owners considered themselves one of the lucky ones to have made it through the pandemic.
Temba Orchards sources its workers through a range of contractors, meaning not all of their workers come from one place. Ms Thornton says not relying on one contractor for their workers probably saved their business.
“We were able to scrape through Covid … I think we were very lucky,” she says. “We had to be less particular and change our strategies significantly but we got through it. Whereas there were a lot of other farms who really, really struggled.”
In 2021, the Joint Standing Committee on Migration recommended “streamlined processes” were needed to attract the skilled international workers required. But, after speaking with Le, it is clear he would not describe the process as ‘streamlined.’
Temba Orchards has seen a generational shift in their employee demographics. The reliance on international workers is a new concept. When Temba was first established, the business relied heavily on locals and students. As time went on, interest from locals grew scarce as the farm’s scale grew larger. The only way to keep up with the farm’s growth was to find a new demographic who was eager to take on the labour-intense work.
“There is no one else available. No Australian picking state exists,” Mr Thornton says. Temba Orchards currently employ 15 Australian citizens as staff, who will all likely retire within the next 10 years. According to Mr Thornton, these employees are the last of their kind.
“Last year I didn’t receive one phone call from an Aussie wanting the work, not one. That sort of says it all,” he says.
Sarah Wan, 32, from Malaysia, lives in Robinvale and has worked in Australia since 2007 doing contract farm work.
Ms Wan says it was her childhood dream to move to Australia.
Before she came to Australia she worked for a market chain in Malaysia, managing four mini markets at once. “The hours were very long and it was a very stressful job,” she says.
In Australia, Ms Wan is able to earn a liveable wage with employee welfare. “The money and conditions are very different compared to my job before,” she says.
Ms Wan has been working on Victorian farms ever since she came to Australia. With her years of experience, she is a prized worker who now managing operations and training new international workers that arrive. “Australians do not want to do this work,” she says. “Rural farms cannot cope without a large number of immigrants.”
Ms Wan describes her life as easy, relaxed and comfortable. She enjoys living away from the “hustle and bustle of the city” and loves the quiet lifestyle she has here. In five years’ time, Ms Wan plans to make enough money to return home to Malaysia and retire.
Ms Thornton says Ms Wan’s plans to retire in her home country is common. With significantly higher wages in Australia, many migrants choose to work in Australia for as long as they need before returning home and retiring. She describes it as “a win-win for employers and employees”. International workers are able to earn a decent wage, contribute their skills to industries in need then return home to family with funds for a better life.
As the 2025 federal election approaches, immigration continues to be controversial topic. With the cost-of-living and housing crisis at an all-time high, government parties are often seen linking this with immigration. LNP leader Peter Dutton says that, if elected, he will reduce Australia’s permanent migration program by one quarter, from 185,000 to 140,000 in the first two years “in recognition of the urgency of this (housing) crisis”.
“We believe that by rebalancing the migration program and taking decisive action on the housing crisis, the Coalition would free up more than 100,000 additional homes over the next five years,” Mr Dutton says.
If elected, the Coalition promises to prioritise temporary visa holders with building and construction skills. It also states that a two-year property purchase ban would be imposed on temporary residents and foreign investors. It’s would also reduce the number of international students allowed into Australia, and limit refugee and humanitarian programs.
Senator David Shoebridge, the Greens spokesperson on immigration, has called the Coalition’s plan “the most extreme migration legislation since the white Australia policy”, claiming that the Albanese Government is working together with Mr Dutton. He has labeled the plan a “Donald Trump-style punch down on migrants”.
The Greens propose tackling the housing crisis by freezing rent increases and introducing a HomeKeeper scheme to manage mortgage prices. The Greens are also pushing to create a public property developer to build more purchasable homes.
According to the Australian Department of International Affairs, other industries in Australia that rely heavily on immigration include hospitality, healthcare, childcare and construction.
Last year, Griffiths University head of Economics, Alberto Posso met with The Australian Institute of International Affairs Queensland to discuss the correlation between migration numbers and housing prices. Professor Posso says the Coalition’s argument suggests that if there are more people here, this creates a higher demand and therefore higher housing prices. So, limiting the number of immigrants each year, lowers demand so this should equate to lower housing prices.
He countered this argument by presenting data sourced from the only time Australia has completely shut its borders to immigrants – during the Covid-19 pandemic. From 2020-2021, significantly fewer immigrants were entering Australia, yet housing prices were still increasing. Professor Posso says “the evidence doesn’t match the (Coalition’s) rhetoric”.
Temba Orchards worker Le, fears how he will support his family if he were forced to return to Vietnam. “Vietnam is not like Australia, our economy has a long way to go,” he says. Similarly, the Thorntons also fear the possibility of losing workers due to stricter immigration laws.
“Without them we wouldn’t be able to harvest. We would have to stop harvesting. It’s as simple as that,” Mr Thornton says.
Ms Thornton says that the biggest issue for them is not finding workers but keeping them in the country. Temba Orchards has seen many highly skilled workers over the years try to gain residency and fail. “In each particular case there’s a barrier they have not been able to jump,” she says. “We make it too hard to be able to come and work … and it’s not always the residency that they’re even after. They just want to be able to work with working rights and fair benefits.”
A 2019 Geographia study, conducted for the Swan Hill Rural City Council showed that in addition to the number of immigrants living and working in Robinvale, there is also a large number of illegal immigrants working there too. Robinvale is home to a number of olive, grape and almond farms that rely on immigrants and international workers. If the government were ever to follow suit with a ‘Trump like’ immigration crack down, this could pose serious threats to regional farms.
Mr Le and Ms Wan love living and working in Australia. “Australians are kind, polite, friendly and helpful,” Ms Wan says. “That is one of the reasons I love this beautiful country.”
The Thorntons shared their concern for the future of immigration in Australia. “It is quite scary that immigration has become so politicised,” Peta Thornton says. “It is often dumbed down like it’s either a positive or negative thing, when there is actually a lot more to it.”
With their first-hand experience, the Thorntons remain vocal about the need for open conversations within communities and as a nation, to recognise Australia’s dependency on international workers. The Thornton’s fear that if immigration laws follow that of other countries this would not just impact their business but the availability of produce nation-wide.
“We’re all immigrants here and we continue to be a multicultural nation. So why are we pushing away from that when that’s been our success? It can look and continue to be our success,” Peta Thornton says.
