Australia's Immigration Crackdown Threatens Wheat Harvest, Farm Groups Warn

Australian agricultural groups have warned that the government's new immigration restrictions could trigger labour shortages across the farming sector and jeopardise the imminent winter crop harvest, adding to a growing chorus of business concerns about the economic impact of tighter migration settings.

The centre-left Labor government announced a series of measures on Thursday aimed at cutting annual immigration by tens of thousands. Among them is a ballot system that will cap the number of working holiday maker visa holders permitted to extend their stay into a second or third year. These backpacker visas are widely used by farms as well as rural hospitality and tourism operators.

Processing times for the visas will stretch to three months, compared with what farm groups described as just a few days previously.

Australia is the world's third-largest wheat exporter and a major supplier of canola, barley, beef and wine. The winter crop harvest, including wheat, is due to begin within weeks.

The National Farmers' Federation said one in seven farm jobs is filled by a backpacker visa holder, with the share considerably higher in some regions and during harvest periods when additional labour is essential.

NFF President Hamish McIntyre said the government had already slowed the granting of working holiday maker visas, leaving some farms short-staffed. "Farmers need approvals in days, not months. For many farms, three months is the difference between harvesting a crop and losing it," he said, adding that labour shortages could cut production and drive up prices.

Opposition lawmaker Susan McDonald, the shadow minister for resources and northern Australia, said there was a real risk that crops would be left to rot and remote businesses would be unable to operate.

The government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is under pressure from the resurgent right-wing populist party One Nation to tighten the country's borders, with immigration ranking among voters' top concerns in recent polls. The plan also restricts the ability of foreign students to bring family members to Australia.

Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black said almost one in three occupations in the country is currently short of workers. "That translates to not enough workers building homes, caring for us in hospitals and aged care homes, delivering infrastructure and powering the energy transition. That is the challenge that any migration policy should be looking to solve," he said.

Immigration into Australia surged after the country reopened its borders in February 2022 following nearly two years of COVID-19 closures, driven largely by international students, backpackers and temporary workers. Numbers have since been declining over the past two years. Net overseas migration stood at 306,000 people in the year to June 30, 2025, down from a peak of 556,000 in the year to September 30, 2023.