Usamate raises serious concerns on Fijians working illegally in farms across Australia

Minister for Employment, Jone Usamate has raised serious concerns on Fijians who are working illegally in farms across Australia.

Concerns have been raised following the death of a Fijian man last month who was not working under the Seasonal Worker Scheme.

Claims were made on SBS News in Australia that seasonal workers are not being treated well, however Usamate says that the Fijian Government assures everyone that proper procedures are taken before people are sent for seasonal work.

Usamate says that people need to go through the legal process.

The Fijian man that passed away is now the fourteenth known Pacific Islander fatality on Australian farms in just six years.

The man collapsed while picking apples in regional Victoria last month of an apparent heart attack.

He is only one of the 14 deaths not to occur under the Seasonal Worker Program which is the official scheme for recruiting Pacific Islanders.