Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says the introduction of a new visa which will provide employment opportunities to international workers amid farm labour shortages is “transformational”.

“There’s 25,000 men and women sitting in 10 Pacific nations that can still come,” Mr Littleproud told Sky News Australia.

“What this is, is the largest structural change to agricultural workforce in our nation’s history.

“This is, in fact, changing the dynamic entirely and giving the investment confidence to the agricultural sector to spend their money because they’ll have the certainty of knowing people are coming in.”

He said the biggest change is that the new scheme will allow for the next generation of migrants to have permanent residency in Australia.

“We’re giving them a pathway to permanent residency because it’s not just about seasonal workers, it’s also about … skills and semi-skills.

“This transformational in what we’ve been able to achieve.”

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