news, local-news, latrobe council, peter freshney, david miller, shearwater, wesley vale, costa farms, owen pacific, cush allison

A second property is being used to house seasonal farm workers in "inhumane" conditions, neighbours say. It is understood the house is a three bedroom house on Beer Street at Wesley Vale, and was allegedly accommodating up to 20 workers at a time until Wednesday night. On Wednesday, 70 seasonal workers were evicted from a five-bedroom Arthur Street, Shearwater property by the Latrobe Council. And Beer Street neighbour David Miller said more than 20 of those evicted were taken by bus to the house in his street on Wednesday night. He said buses had been ferrying seasonal workers from the home to their workplace over 24 hour shifts throughout summer. The seasonal workers, who were mostly from Tonga, were employed through a third party supplier by the nation's largest berry producer, Costa, which has farms in the region. "It is wrong what they are doing to people. It's modern day slavery in my opinion," Mr Miller said. "Australians wouldn't work under these conditions so why do we expect other people to do so?" Latrobe mayor Peter Freshney confirmed the Arthur Street residence was "not an isolated incident" and that the council investigation included at least one other property, but would not comment on the Beer Street residence. "We are conducting concurrent investigations and there might well be [more than one property]," Cr Freshney said. "These two are the point of our focus at the moment. We are seeking information and we are complying with the procedural guidelines and trying to validate the information." Mr Miller said he had been in contact with Cr Freshney and Latrobe Council general manager Gerald Monson about the number of people being accommodated at the Beer Street house since late December. Mr Monson wrote to Mr Miller on January 6, and said the house was licensed for a capacity of ten people, and questioned whether all the people being bused to the property were actually living there. Latrobe councillor Shayne Allison said all Latrobe councillors received an email on Wednesday night saying the seasonal workers had been taken to the Beer Street property. Cr Allison said he had moved a motion to discuss the "unsanitary conditions and overcrowding" at Monday's council meeting. "What they're doing is a bit like reverse slavery." Australian Workers' Union assistant secretary Robert Flanagan said they were aware of a second concerning residence. "The union is aware there is a second residence in Wesley Vale which has also raised concerns about accommodation arrangements for seasonal workers," Mr Flanagan said. The third party, to which Costa has now issued a breach of contract notice following the Arthur Street eviction, is understood to be Owen Pacific. It is believed Owen Pacific is the owner of the Beer Street property, which was the subject of a development application which council rejected last year. The development proposed housing of 106 seasonal workers. Owen Pacific has been contacted for comment. Cr Freshney said the investigation into the Arthur Street house and at least one other property was ongoing. The Arthur Street residence is owned by Port Sorell developer Simon Baldock, who refused requests to comment beyond confirming he owned the property.

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