■澳洲農業人手不足情況嚴重。 資料圖片【原文】澳洲近年依靠申請工作假期簽證（working holiday visa)的年輕背包客（backpacker），紓緩勞工短缺困境（labour shortage）。總理莫里森（Scott Morrison）昨日宣佈，將延長工作假期簽證期限，由目前最長兩年延長至三年，條件是必須參與農業工作最少半年，讓年輕背包客逗留澳洲更長時間，解決農業人手不足問題。
澳洲現時批出為期一年的工作假期簽證，又稱為「背包客簽證」（backpacker visa），假如旅客願意到較偏遠的（remote）北部地區工作，則可申請延長至兩年。當局計劃自明年7月開始實施新規定，容許旅客進一步延長簽證至三年，條件是於第二年須參與農業工作最少半年，但撤銷需於北部地區工作的規定。此外，部分國家背包客申請工作假期簽證的年齡上限（age limit）提高至35歲。
當局亦會修訂與太平洋島國設立的「季節性工人計劃」（seasonal workers program），將引入外勞的簽證期限由現時6個月至9個月，劃一為9個月，並容許僱主將試用期（probationary period）由3個月增至6個月。
澳洲政府去年開始收緊臨時工作簽證，以控制移民（immigrant）人數增長，但措施引起農民不滿，批評收緊簽證規模，導致收割季節的人手嚴重不足，當中以農業大省昆士蘭（Queensland）最受影響。當局其後計劃推出農業簽證（agricultural visa），並嘗試強制要求領取失業救濟金（unemployment benefit）的人士進行收割工作，但最終未能成事。
莫里森昨日到訪昆士蘭省一個種植士多啤梨的農莊，宣佈放寬工作假期簽證計劃，他強調讓澳洲國民就業是其首要任務，但在必要情況下，需確保能及時收割（harvest），避免農民蒙受損失。
莫里森同時堅稱，不會撤銷（eliminate）向持工作假期簽證人士徵收15%入息稅，強調所有人在澳洲工作都必須交稅。澳洲去年有41.9萬背包客到訪，消費額達9.2億澳元（約52億港元），莫里森表示，延長簽證有助刺激背包客消費，料可升至每年10億澳元（約56億港元）。
南太平洋島國斐濟（Fiji）的國會議員普拉薩德（Biman Prasad）直言，澳洲放寬工作假期簽證是「損害極大的決定」，憂慮斐濟國民將流失工作，令失業（unemployment）情況惡化。
智庫「發展政策中心」（Development Policy Centre）副總監多南（Matthew Dornan）指出，簽證將加劇背包客和太平洋島國求職者的競爭。澳洲工黨議員安德魯．利（Andrew Leigh）批評計劃短視（short-sighted），又指現時農業工人薪酬過低，約三分一背包客的時薪不足12澳元（約67港元），不少人更被拖欠薪金，強調政府應先解決剝削勞工問題，並研究如何為農業創造職位。 （標題為編輯所加） （摘錄自香港文匯報社評 6-11-2018）
Australia extends the working holiday visa to solve the shortage of manpower in agriculture
【譯文】Australia has been relying on young backpackers who apply for working holiday visas to ease labour shortage in recent years. The Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the validity period of working holiday visas would be extended from 2 to 3 years, provided that backpackers and travelers must engage in at least 6 months of agricultural work to help address the lack of manpower.
The country currently grants a one-year working holiday visa, also known as the "backpacker visa", and travelers are allowed to stay for a second year if they are willing to work in the fields in the remote north. The government plans to implement the new policy starting from July 2019 to triple the length of stay for travelers, on condition that they must participate in at least 6 months of agricultural work in the second year, with regions not confining to the remote north. Moreover, the age limit for visa application of certain countries has also been raised to 35.
The country also announced an extension of the seasonal workers program (SWP) co-established with the Pacific Islands, extending the length of stay for employees under the SWP, currently ranging from 6 to 9 months, to a standard period of 9 months, as well as allowing employers to extend the probationary period from 3 to 6 months.
The Australian government began tightening rules on temporary working visas last year in hopes of controlling the rapid growth of immigrants. Yet, such measure had aroused discontent among farmers who suffered from rotting crops and complained about the shortage of workers, and those in the largest agricultural state Queensland were most adversely affected. The government later introduced the agricultural visas and tried to force the recipients of unemployment benefits to do harvesting work, but still failed to address labour shortage effectively.
The new rules were announced by Morrison during his visit with the strawberry farmers in Queensland. He stressed that Australians filling Australian jobs was his top priority but it was equally important to ensure timely harvesting and prevent farmers from having crop losses.
The Prime Minister said he would not consider eliminating the 15% tax on working holiday-makers, emphasizing that everyone working in Australia must pay taxes. Some 419,000 backpackers visited Australia last year, spending AUD$920 million （approximately HKD$5.2 billion） in regional towns. Morrison was optimistic that the visa change would further help push the traveler's spending up to AUD$1 billion （HKD$5.6 billion） each year.
Biman Prasad, a member of the Fijian Parliament, said the new measure was a "very damaging decision" for the Pacific Islands and the SWP, concerning that it would hurt the career prospects of most Fijian and worsen unemployment situation.
Matthew Dornan, deputy director of the Development Policy Centre, said the visa change would increase the competition between backpackers and Pacific Islanders seeking employment.
The Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh described the change as a short-sighted measure, criticizing that the current wages of agricultural workers remained low and one-third of backpackers were paid less than AUD$12 （HKD$67） an hour, not to mention that many were owed billions of dollars in unpaid wages. He urged the government to resolve those abuses and create more job opportunities in the agricultural sector.■龐嘉儀
知多點
1. 大部分國家工作假期簽證的年齡限制介乎多少歲之間？
2. 截至2018年，可供港人申請工作假期簽證的國家有多少個？
3. 自2019年起，還有哪個國家開放對港人的申請？
4. 哪個國家的允許港人逗留時間最長？
5. 據勞工處（Labour Department）資料顯示，2001年起至今，共有多少港人參與工作假期計劃？
Answer
1. 18-30 歲
2. 12個（澳洲、英國、愛爾蘭、奧地利、法國、德國、韓國、加拿大、日本、新西蘭、匈牙利、瑞典）
3. 荷蘭
4. 英國（最長可逗留24個月）
5. 超過78,000名