Industry update

BY SCARLET ROXBY VALUE CHAIN FACILITATOR, STONEFRUIT

f WESTERN Australian Horticulture Update —October 2021.

The past quarter has been a productive one for the industry, even though stonefruit is currently in the off season.

Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) and Seasonal Worker Program (SWP)

We had a great webinar hosted by Ellen Smith from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Primary Industries Workforce and Business Capacity, which gave attendees an opportunity to learn and ask questions regarding the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) and Seasonal Worker Program (SWP). This was well-timed with growers needing to think about their labour needs for the upcoming season, and what pathway works best for their business.

South Australia tour postponed

With the recent advances in the The WA government has released its Plan for Plastic action plan. COVID outbreak in NSW, QLD and now SA, the committee has made the decision to postpone the Biosecurity Tour to Renmark, SA. With biosecurity such an important issue, we will endeavour to bring another format of biosecurity industry development this year. Planning will continue for the tour to take place next year if circumstances allow.

WA Government single-use plastic ban

The take-home message for our small growers is to investigate the range of labour hire companies registered as approved PLS or SWP employers. For larger business that haven’t begun the process to become an approved employer, labour hire companies can also help supplement labour requirements while the approval process takes place. I urge anyone wanting to move forward with labour hire through the PLS or SWP to reach out to either Ellen Smith (ellen.smith@dpird.wa.gov.au) or Kit Sainsbury (kit.sainsbury@dpird.wa.gov.au). More information has been sent through the StonefruitWA newsletter via email. Please check your junk box if you haven’t received these emails, or contact me to subscribe to further communications.

The West Australian government has released its Plan for Plastic action plan, to be delivered over the short (end of 2021) and medium-term (end of 2022). The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) has programmed twelve information and feedback sessions, where stakeholders can understand the plan’s actions, timeframes and proposed bans, along with providing industry specific feedback to DWER. These are public events, and include two online sessions.

I will be attending the last of the sessions of August 28th, 2021, at WA Museum Boola Bardip from 6–8pm. Prior to this, I hope to gain a reasonably extensive understanding of the plastic use within the stonefruit industry in WA, thus would appreciate any information that would like to be shared in preparation for this event.

Western Australia Horticulture Update 2021

In celebration of the United Nation’s declaring 2021 the International Year of the Fruits and Vegetables, the WA horticultural body will be organising the next Western Australian Horticulture Update on the 4th and 5th of November. With preparation still underway, please keep an eye out for further information via the StonefruitWA newsletter. ●

MORE INFORMATION

Please check you junk emails for StonefruitWA newsletters, or contact Scarlet (scarlet.roxby@perthnrm.com) to subscribe to the StonefruitWA grower communications.

FOLLOW WA STONEFRUIT

@wastonefruit