# Regional Queensland fears visa cuts will cripple workforce > Federal immigration cuts threaten businesses in north Queensland that rely on working holiday visa holders for over 60% of staff. - Title: Regional Queensland fears visa cuts will cripple workforce - Summary: Federal immigration cuts threaten businesses in north Queensland that rely on working holiday visa holders for over 60% of staff. Federal Labor's plan to cap… - Keywords: working holiday visas, immigration policy, regional queensland, townsville, cairns, tony burke, david crisafulli, hospitality industry, tourism, labour shortage, news, politics - Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/09/as-federal-politicians-vow-to-cut-immigration-regional-queensland-businesses-need-every-hand-we-can-get - Published: 2026-10-09T14:00:30+00:00 - Read time: 3 min - Topics: working holiday visas, immigration policy, regional queensland, townsville, cairns, tony burke, david crisafulli, hospitality industry, tourism, labour shortage, news, politics ## A visa that changed everything Sydney Schetter came to Australia from Alberta in 2019 on a working holiday visa. Her one-year visa was repeatedly extended during Covid-19 restrictions while she worked at the Watermark hotel in Townsville. ## Federal government caps working holiday visas Home affairs minister Tony Burke announced the government would cap second-year working visa holders at forty-five thousand, down from fifty-seven thousand, and third year at just five thousand. ## Applicants will enter a ballot Holidaymakers will enter a ballot to be one of the lucky few to extend their visas. United Kingdom citizens will be exempt, as they already are from regional work requirements. ## Schetter says she would not reapply Schetter says she would not bother applying for a second year under the new rules. She would not have come to Australia at all if these rules had been in place when she arrived. > I wouldn't even bother applying for my second year, maybe ## Townsville businesses heavily dependent According to a survey by the Townsville chamber of commerce, about seventy percent of local businesses employed at least ten working holiday visa holders, well over sixty percent of their total staff. ## Watermark hotel employs dozens on visas Bart Furst, director of Kickon Group which owns the Watermark hotel, says they employ upwards of forty or sixty people on working holiday visas out of a total of one hundred twenty staff. ## Local politicians call policy nuts Queensland premier David Crisafulli, whose family worked the region's cane fields, has repeatedly called the policy nuts. Townsville LNP MP Adam Baillie says visa holders are central to the economy. > In regional Queensland, we need every hand we can get ## Even Labor MP opposes the cuts In Cairns, Labor state MP Michael Healy, a former hotelier, says he has received angry calls from publicans and Great Barrier Reef tourism operators since the announcement.He says the policy could knock Cairns into recession. > We need migration, and we need backpackers, particularly in regional Queensland ## Federal Labor MP leads delegation Matt Smith, federal Labor MP for Leichhardt and Cairns local, will lead a delegation of business leaders to Canberra to meet Burke. Smith says his role is making sure the far north's voice is heard. ## Burke targets net migration at 225,000 Burke said his immigration policy would slash net overseas migration to about two hundred twenty-five thousand in twenty twenty-seven to twenty twenty-eight, down from two hundred ninety-two thousand. ## Coalition and One Nation go further The Coalition responded with an even higher cut, reducing net migration to one hundred thousand for the first two years from twenty twenty-eight to twenty twenty-nine. One Nation is aiming for zero net migration. ## Backpackers are second-largest source Working holidaymakers represent Australia's second-largest source of immigration. About seventy-eight thousand three hundred arrived in twenty twenty-four to twenty twenty-five, compared with one hundred forty-six thousand seven hundred university students. ## Every hundred visas create five jobs It has been estimated that every one hundred visas create about five net full-time equivalent jobs in Australia. ## Cuts hit regional towns hardest Kaya Barry, senior lecturer at Griffith University, says the government targeted working holidays rather than student visas to avoid political consequences. Without backpackers, many regional towns have lost vibrancy and young people. > We've got no young people. The pub had to close, didn't have enough business ## Key takeaway Federal Labor's plan to cap second-year working holiday visas at 45,000 and third-year at 5,000 has alarmed regional Queensland businesses dependent on backpacker labour, with local politicians warning of economic harm.