Karl Stefanovic has slammed the Morrison government’s decision to leave farm work out of working holiday visas for travellers from the United Kingdom saying it will take a huge toll on the nation’s agriculture system
Karl Stefanovic has slammed the Morrison government’s decision to leave farm work out of working holiday visas for travellers from the United Kingdom saying it will take a huge toll on the nation’s agriculture system.
Britons under 35 will be allowed to live and work in Australia for three years without having to do farm work under the terms of a UK-Australia free trade deal, which will make British cars, cheese and whisky cheaper to buy Down Under.
The agreement was thrashed out by Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson over a three-hour dinner in Number 10 Downing Street on Tuesday night.
The Today host however thought Australia sold out its farmers at the bargaining table, saying it was a ‘serious oversight’ from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his cabinet.
‘I can say from personal experience they are vital for the agriculture sector especially around harvest,’ Stefanovic said on Wednesday morning.
‘For our farmers the next 15 years paying tariffs is a pretty heavy price to pay.’
Karl Stefanovic has slammed the Morrison government’s decision to leave farm work out of working holiday visas for travellers from the United Kingdom
The agreement was thrashed out by Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson over a three-hour dinner in Number 10 Downing Street on Tuesday night
The bombshell change to visas will also delight young Britons who are currently forced to carry out three months of gruelling work on a rural property if they want to stay in Australia for a second year on a working holiday visa.
Young Australians will have the same rights to work in the UK for three years.
The move will have a huge impact on Australian farmers who are dependent on 10,000 British backpackers a year to pick fruit and vegetables – but a new agriculture visa, allowing British farmers to work in Australia, will help offset the impact.
Despite Morrison claiming the deal is a huge win for Aussie farmers, Stefanovic instead said he has left them out to dry, particularly as the country can ‘no longer rely on China’, its biggest importer of Australian products.
‘Great Britain as a market, we shouldn’t have been paying those tariffs at that level.
Already Scotland is arching up, Northern Ireland is arching up, there’s serious blow back in Wales,’ Stefanovic said. ‘It’s not going to be easy.’
Channel Nine Canberra political correspondent Jonathan Kearsley also criticised the deal, suggesting Morrison gave Johnson too easy a go in negotiations despite describing their relationship as ‘best mates’.
‘The Australian deal was supposed to be the easiest one to sort out.
Scott Morrison said it is the deal between two best mates. It is a deal that has take three years to do,’ he said on Today.
‘If it takes three years to do a deal with your best mate good knows how long it will take to deals with other countries.’
The visa will however take in workers from the 10 Association of South East Asian nations – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, kỳ nghỉ đông dương Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, kỳ nghỉ đông dương Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Political correspondent Jonathan Kearsley also criticised the deal, suggesting Morrison gave Johnson too easy a go in negotiations despite describing their relationship as ‘best mates’
Britons (pictured in Manchester during England’s football clash with Croatia on Sunday) will be able to work in Australia for three years and Aussies will have the same rights in the UK
Tariffs will be reduced or eventually removed on a number of key British products sold in Australia, including cars, cheese, kỳ nghỉ đông dương biscuits and whiskey.
Changes to visas will also make it easier for Australians to work or live in the UK.
It is has not yet been decided if Britons who have already used a working holiday visa will be able to re-apply and benefit from the extended working rights.
The changes will not come into play until at least July 2022 when the free trade deal – which has been agreed in principle – is expected to be officially signed.
‘I said we’d wait for the right deal and I think we’ve got the right deal, Boris,’ said Morrison as he welcomed the agreement which will boost the Australian economy by $1.3billion (£700million) and the UK economy by $915million (£500million) each year.
Morrison said there would be no limit on the number of young people who would be able to move between the two nations.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (right) and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left) announced the deal in the garden of number 10 Downing Street
After the announcement, Morrison went to visit the Queen at Windsor Castle before flying to Paris to hold talks with President Macron
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