It is the first nation to officially back out of the scheme, developed last year after the UK-AUS trade deal exempted British working holidaymakers from mandatory regional labour.
The Agriculture Visa is meant to be a new, streamlined immigration option for farm labourers. But unions are vocally opposed to the visa, which targets neighbouring South-East Asian nations.
The Australian Workers’ Union said it was only a matter of time before other Asian nations followed the Philippines example.
NSW Farmers has criticised the AWU’s calls to scrap the visa, saying it will only lead to further disruptions in food supply chains.
NSW Farmers vice-president Xavier Martin said he was hopeful they could avoid the “politicisation of this important issue”.
“Because any action that impacts agricultural labour supply will ultimately cost us all by limiting the food we can produce,” Mr Martin said.
AWU national secretary Daniel Walton said the meetings the AWU had with ambassadors were confidential, but nations withdrawing from the Agriculture Visa was “entirely consistent with the tenor of the discussions we’ve been having”.
In early February, the AWU was asked by the Federal Government to cease speaking with foreign ambassadors, but the request was ignored.
“Only Indonesia has been willing to publicly express an interest in the program, yet after an expensive trip last week, Minister Littleproud came back with no deal on the ag visa,” Mr Walton said on February 2.
“If Asian nations are rejecting this Agriculture Visa it’s not because they trust the AWU blindly.
“It’s because they’ve probably read the 11 independent reports since 2016 that have confirmed widespread abuse of foreign workers on Australian farms.”
The Federal Government amended the Migration Regulations to create the Australian Agriculture Worker Visa on October 1, 2021.
While the ag visa exists in law, no other countries have signed on to take part in the labour scheme.
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