Australian Immigration Daily News

by Michael Jeremy - Registered Migration Agent and Migration Lecturer

Last month, February, I attended the Watermelon Festival in Chinchilla in Southern Queensland. My mate Terry has a watermelon farm and my interest in melons over the decades made Melonfest Chinchilla impossible to resist.

My professional interest in agriculture and horticulture in Australia also made this part of Queensland a must visit. Despite issues with oversupply making previous seasons tough for watermelon growers, Melonfest 2015 was reported a great success, with commercial Sydney and Melbourne television stations covering the event live.

South West Queensland and the Darling Downs are major regions for Queensland's agricultural output. About 12% of the region's population are employed in the Agricultural industry and it counts for around 15% of the region's output. Sorgum, Canola, Chickpeas and Watermelons are some of the region's most harvested products.

The history of watermelon production in Chinchilla is interesting. Originally, a townsperson grew watermelon just for his own family but as a result of a watermelon crop wipeout in Queensland, he was invited to supply his melons to the Brisbane markets. Chinchilla never looked back. The soil was the right type and rain, which melons don't like, was not as strong as it is on the Queensland coast.

Another interesting fact about the Chinchilla area is that the area was plagued by prickly pear. The prickly pear has been kept under control by the Cactus Moth (Cactoblastis Cactorum).

Agriculture is a significant employer and economic driver in the region, however, approximately 50% of economic output comes from the mining industry. In Australia over the past few years agriculture and mining have come to loggerheads over use of prime land, this is especially the case in New South Wales. In late 2014, farmers from Northern NSW visited Chinchilla to see what it would be like to co-exist with the ever more prevalent coal seam gas industry. Farmers reported feeling 'left in the dark' regarding further mining plans for the area.

Both the mining and agricultural sectors use local and overseas persons to bolster their workforces, both sectors make significant use of working holiday visa holders or 'backpackers'. Both sectors have been busted for employing overseas persons outside of the visa conditions or in ways not intended by skilled work visa programs. Just this week the Federal Government announced that the Pacific Island and East Timor seasonal worker program would be relaxed and more persons permitted to have access to it.

Australia is in a unique position to provide high quality, high quantity and safe agricultural produce to growing markets in Asia and the Middle East. However, agriculture in Australia exists within a fragile economic and climatic environment.

The future of agriculture, and indeed watermelons, in Australia will be determined by productivity yield and cost of production and of course the use of, or sharing of, the land with mining.

The Melon festival in Chinchilla is on every second year and is well worth a visit www.melonfest.com.au