Extract from ABC News
Posted
A fresh food company embroiled in the "modern-day
slavery" and migrant labour exploitation scandal has launched a new
venture with a labour hire contractor exposed by the ABC's Four Corners
program, despite a public statement claiming the business relationship
had been severed.
The ABC can exclusively reveal that Covino Farms
has registered a new business with labour hire contractor Sam, whose
real name is Samnang Huor.Originally from Cambodia, Mr Huor is the representative of disgraced labour hire company Chompran Enterprises.
Covino Farms is one of Australia's biggest salad and vegetable growers. It supplies major supermarkets and several fast food outlets including KFC, Red Rooster and Subway.
Last week Four Corners exposed how Australia's fresh food supply chain is riddled with widespread and extreme exploitation of migrant workers.
The program featured evidence of migrant workers being abused, harassed, financially deceived and exposed to disgraceful slave-like conditions while working for labour hire contractors on farms and in factories across the country.
The program revealed how Covino Farms was using Chompran Enterprises to source cheap migrant labour.
Four Corners exposed allegations that more than 100 migrant workers were being grossly underpaid and exploited at Covino Farms by Chompran Enterprises, with one young woman claiming she was indecently assaulted by Mr Huor at his home.
The woman reported the incident to the local police and to Covino Farms.
But instead of terminating its agreement with Chompran Enterprises, Covino continued to use Mr Huor as its labour hire contractor.
In a written response to the damning allegations, sent to the program four days before broadcast, Covino Farms formally stated: "Covino has recently terminated its agreement with Chompran. We will not tolerate any of our providers exploiting their workers and will terminate the contacts (sic) of any businesses that we find have fallen short of its contractual duties."
But the ABC has discovered that just 24 hours after making this statement, the co-owner of Covino Farms, Steven Covino, registered a new company named Horticultural Employment Services Pty Ltd.
Company documents obtained by the ABC list Mr Huor as Mr Covino's co-director and equal shareholder.
The company documents were lodged with ASIC on behalf of Mr Covino, Mr Huor and a third co-director named Soon Huat Ng.
It is not known how Horticultural Employment Services plans to operate or how it will treat its workers.
"If these allegations are true, then this is an extremely concerning situation," Victoria's Minister for Industrial Relations Natalie Hutchins said.
The Victorian State Government has already begun an investigation into the regulation of the labour hire industry, amid growing calls for Australia to urgently implement a licensing body similar to The Gangmasters Licensing Authority, established in the UK in 2004, to combat modern-day slavery and unscrupulous gangmasters.
"This is exactly why we need to be regulating labour hire companies, why we need a licensing authority similar to the Gangmasters Authority in Britain," Ms Hutchins said.
"A licensing authority would prevent exactly this from happening in Australia."
At a federal level, criticism of the regulator responsible, the Fair Work Ombudsman, is mounting.
"The Fair Work Ombudsman's office regularly contacts my office looking for intel," said Keith Pitt, Federal MP for the Queensland seat of Hinkler.
"Unless we can provide [Fair Work] with documentary evidence and detailed information, they say their hands are tied. They announce their visits in local media, and visit legitimate hostels."
The National Farmers Federation has also hit out against unscrupulous labour hire firms, saying most farmers and growers are doing the right thing.
The NFF's Sarah McKinnon said the federation was now developing a best practice scheme for agricultural employment.
"This scheme that we're proposing to develop will improve awareness of obligations and make sure that people are asking the right questions when they're hiring contractors," Ms McKinnon said.
Lip service about the criminal exploitation of foreign workers wages is standard media speak by politicians and bureaucrats-its time for real action-mandatory sentencing of crooked farmers and their partners in crime, rogue labour hire operators with an ABN, a mobile phone and alleged illegally operating white minibuses transporting workers to farms.
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