LESS than a week after the body of an alleged foreign farm worker was found at Boundary Bend, the region’s peak multicultural group hopes the case will become a catalyst for change.
Sunraysia Mallee Ethnic Communities Council chief executive Dean Wickham is leading the charge to establish an independent contracting firm to counter the exploitation of backpackers by rogue labour-hire contractors.
He said it would focus on ethical employment outcomes for foreign workers, and its profits would be used to support those at risk of exploitation.
Mr Wickham is the latest in a string of community leaders to speak out about allegations of poor wages and conditions, sexual exploitation, overcrowded and illegal rooming houses, and “stand-over tactics and violence”.
“This is not media hype,” Mr Wickham said.
“This is the reality, and leads to the type of tragic situation we have just seen at Boundary Bend.”
A 47-year-old Asian man was found dead, as a result of a treatable medical condition, at a public toilet block at Boundary Bend last Friday.
But police believe the man, who was in Australia illegally, did not die there and are considering the “possible scenario” that his body was placed there later by a labour-hire contractor he worked for.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of today’s (Friday, September 25) The Guardian.
