12/09/2026
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION
Dear Minister Tony Burke MP,
The people in this photo are more than a migration statistic. They are part of our team, part of our community and part of what keeps the Outback running.
The Outback needs backpackers.
Working Holiday Makers bring something incredibly valuable to remote Australia. They create a vibrant and diverse Outback, bringing people from all over the world into small communities like Oodnadatta and often becoming part of those communities while they are here.
For businesses like ours, they also provide something absolutely essential: flexibility.
Tourism in the Outback is highly seasonal. We need to dramatically increase our workforce when the roads are busy and travellers are coming through, and then reduce staffing when summer arrives and visitor numbers fall away. Backpackers fit that seasonal economy incredibly well.
They work. They pay Australian taxes. They buy groceries, fuel and meals. They support local businesses. They join in with community life and bring different cultures and experiences into some of the smallest and most isolated towns in Australia.
Most importantly, they help regional businesses stay open and provide the services Australians and international visitors expect when travelling through remote Australia.
Without them, many roadhouses, pubs, accommodation providers, tourism businesses and farms across regional and remote Australia would struggle to find enough people during their busiest months.
And it isn’t just tourism. Backpackers pick fruit, work on farms and cattle stations and fill seasonal jobs across regional Australia - helping keep businesses operating and food on Australian tables.
There is also an important distinction when talking about migration and Australia’s housing crisis.
Working Holiday Makers are hardly where Australia’s housing problem begins. In remote communities like ours, many live in accommodation supplied by their employer. They are temporary, highly mobile workers who come here to work and travel before moving on.
If the Government needs to address migration numbers, please don’t simply reach for the low-hanging fruit.
Look at where the migration system is genuinely adding long-term pressure, whether visa programs are achieving what they were designed to achieve, and whether skills-shortage pathways are actually filling the shortages they were created for.
Surely those questions should be examined carefully before making it harder for young travellers to spend a year or two working, paying tax, travelling around Australia and supporting the regional communities that desperately need them.
Jess and I perhaps have a slightly different perspective on this than many people commenting on migration policy.
We are both naturalised Australians.
We chose Australia as our home, and we have spent our time here living and working in remote Australia.
We have brought our three children with us to live in a remote community, invested in businesses here and are doing our best to help keep the Outback thriving for the next generation.
We know first-hand both the opportunities Australia gives migrants and the challenges of keeping remote communities viable.
And from where we stand in Oodnadatta, backpackers are not the problem.
They are part of the solution.
Come to the Outback during tourist season and see what these young people actually do.
They make the coffees.
They cook the meals.
They clean the rooms.
They stock the shelves.
They serve the beers.
They work weekends and public holidays.
They pick the fruit.
They work on the stations.
They help travellers when things go wrong.
And in the process, they become part of our communities.
The Outback needs backpackers.
Please make sure the people making decisions about the Working Holiday Maker program understand just how important these young workers are to regional and remote Australia before changing a system that works remarkably well for places like ours.
From all of us at the Pink Roadhouse, Oodnadatta
L-R: Josh (USA). Chand (UK), Phillip (GER), Joe & Jess (GBR), Nicole (GBR), Matt (AUS), Trinity (CAN), Saki (J*P).
