Australian farmers want Pacific worker plan approved
Updated
The Australian National Farmers Federation says it hopes Pacific Islanders could be doing temporary work on Australian farms within months.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is expected to announce a pilot scheme next week when he is at the Pacific Island Forum at Niue.
NFF spokeswoman Denita Wawn says she is disappointed and frustrated that the Australian opposition is trying to scuttle the plan.
"All of a sudden, just before there's a potential announcement, they're raising last minute issues which - quite frankly - have been addressed, have been discussed and we now have support not only from the Australian Workers Union but certainly public sentiment is behind us on this issue," she said.
Ms Wawn says farmers want the scheme to be given bipartisan support, and for the first Pacific workers to arrive for the season that starts in a few months time.
"We hope that it could be achieved this season and certainly have offered our services to the government to ensure that we can progress things as quickly as possible, so we can get people on the ground and actually test some of the propositions that we've been putting forward for some time," she said.
