Nick Eckermann

You have to be kidding me. People - let your Labor MPs know how you really feel about this latest assault on the last productive sector of our economy.

85% of the migrants we bring in go to Sydney and Melbourne. They don’t want to work on farms. They don’t even know where the farms are. Meanwhile, 100,000 Working Holiday Makers are keeping Australian agriculture running — and the average backpacker spends $1000 more than they earn. And now the government is throttling the visa that actually feeds the country. Full episode available now: ON WAFarmers Podcast. Youtube youtube.com/shorts/fsSx8jUhx…

Information for you if you were concerned after reading the beatup about Paraquat in the @australian this week

Yesterday’s FWC wage decision was a masterclass in the political magician's trick. While media, business and unions argued over the "4.75% pay rise" smokescreen, the legal wage floor for a school-leaver was quietly forced up to an experienced operator level, by phasing out the 2 entry-level awards that were put there to help get inexperienced youth into their first job. With businesses now forced to pay the exact same hourly rate for zero experience versus 5 years of experience, with rising unemployment and pressure on businesses, they will choose experience every single time. Youth unemployment is already up from 8.5% to 11% under Labor. Add in underemployment, and one in four of our kids is now struggling to find work. Denying school leavers their start in a worsening labour market is creating a pathway for long term youth unemployment, and a high risk for soul destroying lifetime welfare dependency. By pulling away the bottom 2 rungs of the ladder, this tone-deaf government isn't protecting young workers—they are sentencing many of them to welfare queues before they've even picked up a tool. Quite the opposite of generational equity isn't it?