Seasonal workers

The men were travelling in a mini bus, heading south to pick fruit when their vehicle collided head on with an oncoming semi-trailer on Bruce Highway

Rita Kelly of Queensland Ambulance Service told 9 News, their officers “came across a very horrific scene.”

It was raining at the time of the incident and the roads were very wet.

Vanuatu media have identified the deceased as Ioan Malas, Bridly Kere and Veta Bong.

Two other passengers Charlie Seule and Etienne Malep suffered neck, back and leg injuries and are admitted at Innisfail Hospital.

The concern has been sparked by the case of a Ni-Vanuatu man who was forced to take his employer to court after he was paid just AUD$150 for six months work.

Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Australia's Minister for International Development and the Pacific, condemned those who abuse the scheme but pointed out that such cases are very rare.

Vanuatu's Commissioner of Labour, Lionel Kaluat, says the case is a matter of public record now, and like the minister, he believes the level of exploitation was unusual.

Under the scheme, employers in the horticulture and viticulture industry with RSE status bring temporary workers from outside New Zealand to work for up to seven months of the year.

Vanuatu was one of the earliest participants in the scheme starting off in April 2007. In the past decade, Vanuatu has sent 3500 workers to work in New Zealand under RSE.

Vanuatu’s Labour Department is working with local recruitment agents to ensure Vanuatu meets its target of at least 500 more workers to meet increased demand for farm labour in New Zealand.

Fast forward to 2016 where Seasonal Solutions Cooperative Ltd and the Vanuatu Government has that problem solved.

A gathering at The Packing Shed in Earnscleugh on Friday celebrated 10 years of the cooperative

Coming to Central Otago for seven-month stints for the past 10 years under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme had been tough for Vanuatu man Peter Bumseng, but well worth it.

He was one of a handful left of the original 45 that came in the summer of 2006-07.

To me it's a big privilege to come here," Bumseng said. 

A delegation from Vanuatu has arrived in Tasmania to hold talks with the State Government and fruit growers.

The High Commissioner of Vanuatu Kalfau Kaloris said the delegation wanted to increase the number of people taking part in the Pacific Seasonal Workers Program.

"Today's (Tuesday) visit to Tasmania will give us a better idea of how we can increase the export of our workers into the state," he said.

"We have a very good relationship with Australia and around 1,000 workers from Vanuatu take part in the program, but we want that to increase," Mr Kaloris said.

Kiwifruit operator Bay Gold offers this makeshift office for Fruit of the Pacific chief executive Kylie DellaBarca Steel. Kylie spends time here each week, teaching workers about issues such as oral health, budgeting, and prevention of conditions such as heart attack, stroke and type two diabetes. Kylie says workers wanted to know how lifestyle affected health.

ABC reports the Fair Work Ombudsman took legal action in the Federal Circuit Court against Emmanuel Bani and his company, Maroochy Sunshine, in November last year.

Bani had recruited 22 workers from Vanuatu under the Federal Government's seasonal workers scheme but did not pay them a proper wage or give them enough work.

They worked picking fruit and vegetables in the Lockyer Valley, Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg.

According to the Ombudsman, more than half the workers were not paid at all and have since returned to Vanuatu.

The workers came to Australia in January as part of the Department of Employment's Seasonal Worker Program.

The group of 20 from Fiji, and others from Tonga, were taken to the caravan park in Merrigum, in the food bowl district of northern Victoria.

Air New Zealand has suspended its flights to and from Vanuatu’s capital, Port Vila, because of damage to the runway.

It means seasonal workers booked to fly to New Zealand in the next few weeks to pick fruit are grounded until a solution is found.

Maroochy Sunshine was contractually obliged to provide 22 workers from Vanuatu, who were in Australia as part of the Seasonal Worker Program, $500 a week for at least 30 hours' work.

The company allegedly arranged sporadic work in the Lockyer Valley, Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg areas in July 2014.

Thirteen workers were paid nothing for their work, the Fair Work Ombudsman claimed. Other workers were allegedly paid amounts between $50 and $300, were underpaid on their leave entitlements and received their pay infrequently.