The Northern Territory's most valuable tree crop is only weeks away from ruin, it has been claimed. The NT Government has been warned the annual mango harvest, with most of the nation's mango trees located in the Katherine region, is facing a $50 million disaster. Senator Sam McMahon has blamed the NT Government for the crisis, because of its refusal to lift quarantine restrictions for pickers travelling from overseas and interstate.
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The Federal Government has also been accused of spending too long putting together a scheme to recruit Pacific Islanders for the harvest. "The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Michael Gunner, is putting in jeopardy half of the NT's annual mango harvest by refusing to allow seasonal workers to quarantine on farms," Senator McMahon, a former Katherine vet, said. She said the NT mango industry is at risk of having over $50 million of mangoes roting on the ground. Annually, between 2000-2500 mango pickers from regions that include Timor-Leste, Fiji, Vanuatu and other Asian/Pacific nations, come to the NT to work, but this traditional workforce has been blocked by restricted movement across Australian and international borders because of the pandemic. "So far we've only had one plane load of 162 workers from Vanuatu come in to the NT," Senator McMahon said. "This was as part of a trial to see if it could be done safely and successfully, which we've proven. Given its success, ...