WAFARMERS has called on the State government to have "common sense" exemptions for unvaccinated farm workers in order to help get this year's crop off.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
It follows on from last week's agricultural industry roundtable concerning the State government's mandatory vaccination policy for the majority of Western Australia's industries.
Under the policy, those working in Group 1 industries are required to have had their first dose by December 1 and be fully vaccinated by December 31, while those working in Group 2, which includes the transport, freight and logistics industries are required to have had their first dose by December 31 and be fully vaccinated by January 31, 2022.
Critical primary industries will be required to be fully vaccinated to attend work in the event of a lockdown or similar restrictions.
Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan said the exact scope of Group 1 and 2 would be finalised as part of the directions and did not include farm workers.
However, with a record breaking harvest of 20 million tonnes of grain expected this year and the lack of industry skilled and unskilled workers well known, WAFarmers chief executive Trevor Whittington said the State government needed to provide further clarity on its definition of what a 'critical primary industry' is under its mandatory vaccination policy, announced last month.
"Some farm businesses could be fined over $200,000 if they have five people in the family on the books through their company structure and they are all unvaccinated," Mr Whittington said.
"Without clarity of what's a critical primary industry or common sense exemptions for unvaccinated workers sitting on a header or chaser bin in the middle of a paddock, farmers quite rightly can fear a visit from McGowan's COVID storm troopers.
"We have seen in Victoria and New South Wales that the dobbing culture is alive and well in Australia, so there will be no hiding by working at night unvaccinated, unless farmers can operate without any lights.
"The failure to recognise the realities of regional farm labour shortages just reinforces the fear that this government is totally city focused and does not bode well for the future."
Mr Whittington said it was "pathetically inadequate" that participants of the industry round table had only been given one page of dot points outlining the government's vaccination mandate rules.
"The level of fines is beyond comprehension for the risk linked to farmers or regional towns," he said.
"The fines for dangerous driving are far less than what you can be hit for working at night on your own farm."
Ms MacTiernan said the purpose of the roundtable was to feed into the process and that the constructive feedback from major employers was appreciated.
She reiterated that the State government's message to farmers and farm workers was simple - get vaccinated.
"In the event of a lockdown, those that are able to leave home to attend work will need to be double vaccinated," Ms MacTiernan said.
"There's now more opportunities for the people in the regions to get vaccinated.
"Those that haven't yet can head to one of the dozens of COVID vaccination clinics across regional WA.
"Critical agricultural operations, including harvest activities, have previously been allowed to continue during lockdowns, but employees will need to be vaccinated to continue to work during any future lockdown.
"I'd urge WAFarmers to join us in encouraging vaccination as the way out of the COVID pandemic, rather than creating confusion and supporting vaccine hesitancy."
Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (LRTA) president David Fyfe said the association was encouraging all of its members be double vaccinated as soon as practical.
"It's cut and dry what we need to do - we want the people in our industry to get vaccinated so that we can get on with it and keep working," Mr Fyfe said.
"There is a shortage of good skilled people, but I am hoping and relying on common sense that people will get their vaccinations to protect the people that they love.
"We certainly don't want people in our industry to have to stop work because they haven't complied with the instructions from the Premier and it will be disappointing if people use not wanting to get vaccinated as an excuse not to work."
Want weekly news highlights delivered to your inbox? Sign up to the Farm Weekly newsletter.
