A Malaysian journalist who went undercover to expose exploitation in Victoria’s fruit picking industry said workers were trapped in debt to keep them on farms.
Saiful Hasam, a reporter with Utusan Malaysia, gave evidence to a modern slavery inquiry on Monday, speaking of the “thousand sad stories” he heard during his two weeks at a fruit farm in Swan Hill, in northern Victoria.
Fruit pickers, often working illegally, were lured to Australia with promises of high incomes, Hasam said. When they arrived, they were paid a pittance, kept in overcrowded homes with exorbitant rent and effectively trapped in debt bondage.
Hasam warned the inquiry the exploitation was still occurring on a significant scale.
Hasam arrived in Australia last year, posing as a fruit picker who was prepared to work illegally.
He was paid $110 for 24 hours work over four days. About $80 went to pay rent in a small home he shared with 11 other workers, mostly from Malaysia. He was short-changed $10 by his contractor, leaving him with just $20.
“The story is basically the same, the sad story,” Hasam said.
“A thousand sad stories, they are basically the same story. They are struggling. For the newbies, they are very struggling and keep thinking, ‘Today I have to settle how many trees just to pay rental. After finish that part, then we are struggling to collect enough money for the food’.
“Sometimes, based on my experience, it’s just enough for food and rental ... This is grossly unfair for the workers, because they are very hard-working.”
Hasam helped Fairfax Media in its expose of the industry last year, which built momentum for the introduction of a modern slavery act in Australia. An inquiry is examining how such legislation would operate and Hasam travelled from Malaysia to give evidence on Monday.
