As Rowi lands in Kuala Lumpur from Melbourne,Malaysian journalist Saiful Hasam is preparing to head to Australia. Saiful is a bearded,barrel-chested Malaysian who works for the popular Malaysian language daily newspaper Utusan Malaysia,and is is often given the more adventurous assignments. It is Saiful who has come to slip into the opening that Rowi has created,posing as an illegal worker.
He lands in Melbourne with a short-term visa on October 26 and heads toThe Age offices,where he phones one of the lieutenants of Lee the Afghan,a man called Pak Mur. Saiful is immediately offered a job and accommodation.
Arriving in the evening at Swan Hill railway station,Saiful is greeting by Pak Mur,who agrees to pose in a selfie. For those in the illegal worker trade,business seems good. Saiful covertly records video on his mobile phone that captures Pak Mur,a 50-something Indonesian,discussing the Lee syndicate’s control of around 60 workers.
Saiful is then taken to the Cutri-owned Woorinen farmhouse,which is now home to 12 illegal workers - a number of others have left over a wage dispute.
Saiful sleeps on a mattress on the floor. The next morning,a Friday,he arrives at Cutri Fruit orchard and watches as several dozen foreign workers receive a briefing from a labour hire supervisor about how to “thin” - or prune - stone-fruit trees to prepare them for picking in a few weeks. Workers will be paid per tree - the piece rate.
Given his lack of experience,Saiful anticipates earning less than those more experienced. Even taking this into account,his rates are dismal. On Friday,he earns just $16 for 6.25 hours intensive work at an effective hourly rate of $2.56;on Saturday,he earns $48.10 for 9.25 hours work;on Monday,he works just over three hours to earn $13. He then works the Melbourne Cup public holiday on another orchard,earning a total of $22 for five hours and 20 minutes work.
Saiful says many of the illegal workers he laboured alongside earned only slightly more. The workers we interviewed,along with a study submitted to a recent Victorian government inquiry called the Forsyth inquiry,suggest the average hourly wage paid by contractors to fruit pickers with work rights is around $13 an hour.
On Thursday,with an ABC7.30 camera crew,we rendezvous with Saiful at the Woorinen sport oval. It’s empty save for a man preparing the cricket pitch with a roller.
“There are so many stories about the hardship here,” Saiful says quietly. “[They chase the] Australian dream,but they end up being ripped off. But they have no choice.”
One unresolved question is whether Cutri Fruit knows it is using illegal workers at risk of exploitation. Saiful is prepared to test this.
Half an hour later,with a small camera hidden in his black beanie,he walks into Cutri Fruit’s Woorinen headquarters,holding a handwritten letter that explains he is working on Cutri orchards for Lee,earning well below legal rates. Saiful’s cover story is that he wants to work directly with Cutri Fruit to boost his wages.
Saiful is met by Marc Intervera,Cutri Fruit’s research,development and innovations manager who,after confirming that Saiful is working on Cutri orchards,asks him whether he is an illegal worker. The exchange,recorded on tape,appears to be a damning indictment of Cutri Fruit’s labour practices.
“Are you legal? You got legal papers?”,Intervera asks.
Saiful confirms he has been working illegally. Intervera’s response is instant:“You have to work through Lee anyway. You are not legal. I can’t employ you anyway,” he says.
“But we can’t,I can’t do it direct. But I can have a chat to Lee though.”
Cutri Fruit’s managing director,Gaethan Cutri,is a former lawyer who sits on the Coles Produce Agronomy Group. Last week,he politely declined via email to answer detailed questions and there is no evidence he personally knows his company is using illegal workers. But the comments made to Saiful by Intervera (who didn’t respond to questions sent via email) along with the fact that aCutri Fruit linked company owns a farmhouse used to accommodate illegal workers,suggests,at the very least,that some at Cutri Fruit are turning a blind eye.
On Monday,Cutri Fruit stressed it would “never knowingly exploit illegal workers” and it required its labour hire contractors to commit in writing to act lawfully. It has sacked two contractors,including one last month,and,as a result of Fairfax Media’s investigation,demanded its existing contractors prove they operate with integrity. Cutri Fruit has also committed to a “broader independent audit this month to assess if there are any undetected issues.”
Read the full statement from Cutri Fruit here.
A Coles spokesman said the supermarket giant had “referred the allegations regarding Cutri Fruit to the Fair Work Ombudsman” and launched its own probe,while Costco said it intended to audit Cutri Fruit,and would would not buy its fruit until this was done. Woolworths said the company had strict policies responsible sourcing and would refer any alleged breaches by a supplier to authorities.