Public Servants To Hit The Paddocks For Bumper Harvest

Oct 26, 2021

Hundreds of Central Coast public servants will receive five days’ special leave to assist the State’s farmers ahead of a record harvest season.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch said this was another important step towards assisting the region’s farmers harvest their crops in the upcoming season.

“We know the Agriculture sector will play a key part as the economy recovers from the impacts of COVID-19,” Mr Crouch said.

The five days of special leave will be offered to the NSW Government’s public servants without it coming out of their yearly allocation.

“This is the first time this initiative has been offered to Department of Regional NSW staff based in both Gosford and Wyong offices.

“I would encourage anyone in either Gosford or Wyong offices, who may be eligible, to take up this fantastic offer and be part of the team that is doing their bit to help our local farmers.”

The initiative was announced by Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole and Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall.

“Nearly 80 per cent of staff from the Department of Regional NSW already live and work in regional NSW, so chances are many of them know their way around a header or chaser bin and how important this busy time of year is for regional communities,” Mr Toole said.

“This will be a record season and Harvest Leave provides another positive incentive to ensure this year’s crops are harvested,” Mr Marshall said.

The NSW Government has also implemented a range of measures to overcome the agriculture workforce shortage, including subsidies for quarantine costs of foreign ag workers, the Ag Workers’ Code, and more.