AgriExchange Pty Ltd (Costas), Australia’s largest Agriculture/Horticulture employer, is back in Fiji for the fourth time this week, conducting medical tests, job interviews and job tests.
Costas have operations all over Australia focusing on different products such as grapes, citrus, and mushrooms, to name a few.
Permanent Secretary for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations, Osea Cawaru, on behalf of the Fijian Government, thanked the Australian Government and the employer for choosing to recruit from Fiji.
Cawaru expressed his sincere gratitude for the employer’s commitment and their plans for the recruitment of Fijians as well as returning Costas employees.
“The employer will be recruiting about 150 workers to work in the Citrus Farms and 60 to 70 Fijians for harvesting in the coming months,” highlighted Cawaru.
“The majority of the workers that have been selected by Costas are returning workers, who have been employed in previous years.”
“They are looking at expanding their recruitment size in the coming months with a heavy focus on community outreach, to identify suitable candidates,” added Cawaru.
The President and Chief executive officer for the Pacific Islands Council of South Australia, Tukini Tavui, highlighted the work of the Council, which focuses on connecting and developing the Pacific Island community in South Australia through various empowerment initiatives as well as support to Australian employers and the Pacific Labor Facility (PLF) on the training and capacity building of seasonal workers.
Tavui further highlighted the need for Fiji to strengthen links with the Pacific Island Council to empower people and connect with the community for a sustainable model.
Fijians that have been recruited by Costas are based in Renmark, South Australia where they are picking and packing Citrus.
SOURCE: FIJI GOVT/PACNEWS
