Federal Government set to allow fruit pickers from Vanuatu into Australia despite coronavirus border

The Federal Government is set to permit foreign workers to fly into Australia to help farmers harvest crops despite an inbound travel ban and surging unemployment.

Key points: The Federal Government is set to allow up to 200 fruit pickers into the NT The workers will come from Vanuatu, which has no recorded cases of COVID-19 Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says Australians are not willing to migrate to pick fruit The ABC understands the Government is on the cusp of announcing a pilot program that would allow up to 200 workers to travel from Vanuatu to harvest mangoes in the Northern Territory, possibly within weeks.

Farmers across the country have become increasingly concerned that their crops could be left to rot, and sheep left unshorn, without access to the foreign workers that typically work on Australian farms.