Surviving in the dairy industry with low milk prices was hard enough but the changes to the skilled migrant workers visa scheme was a kick in the guts the Kydds of Finley didn’t expect.
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Ruth Kydd was preparing on a Tuesday morning to submit her latest application for a 457 visa worker in time for the calving season in July on the Riverina property.
Later that day (March 18), the Federal Government axed the 457 visa scheme and Mrs Kydd was devastated.
The old scheme, that allowed workers to stay for four years, was to be replaced by a new two-tier system with shorter visa periods and stricter entry requirements including police checks and English tests. Mrs Kydd said she felt she was paying the cost for other industries rorting the 457 visa system.
The Kydds run 1200 crossbred dairy cows – a mixture of Holstein, Jersey and Ayrshire breeds – on the 1192ha property incorporating “Myrtle Park” and “Avonmore” at Finley.
The dairy cows do well here, the crossbreeds have good fertility, toughness and graze well. There are about 30 large dairy farms surrounding Finley, most of them on contracts to Murray-Goulburn, and nearly all of them employ skilled overseas workers.
Mrs Kydd estimates that would make up about at least 100 employees in the area from overseas who help keep the local economy afloat.
She started bringing in overseas workers on various types of visas about five years ago. She applauds their work ethic.
The Kydds have had workers from South Korea, Ukraine, Philippines and Holland. They live on site and shop and socialise in Finley.
Mrs Kydd, who works “Avonmore” with her husband Neville and their two sons, says many local people don’t want the jobs on offer at Finley’s dairies. “They prefer to drive tractors than work with cows,” she says. Many of her overseas workers work a 48 hour week.
Many have agricultural degrees or diplomas. Herd manager Dohyun Kim, from Korea is on a 457 skilled worker visa working at the Kydds' Myrtle Farm.
He came to Australia on a student visa and then completed a diploma in agriculture. Mrs Kydd finds her overseas workers through “word of mouth” mostly. She also uses an immigration agent in Melbourne to find workers on training visas. She pays up to $10,000 to bring in a worker. Early estimates are this cost may double under new entry requirements, that include police checks and English tests.
The dairy industry is cyclical and we are paddling very hard to stay afloat,” she said.
The Kydds moved from Gippsland in Victoria to Finley in the 1980s and have seen the dairy industry grow and grow. Most dairies now have large herds and need a certain number of workers to make the operations viable.