The Federal Government’s plan for fruit pickers from Vanuatu to work in the Northern Territory is on hold as the Pacific Island nation keeps international travel locked down.
The Northern Territory mango industry relies on up to 2,000 seasonal workers to pick the annual crop but will have to rely on significantly fewer this year.
The Northern Territory (aka NT) is a vast federal territory in Australia famed for its Outback desert landscapes. In the arid Red Centre lie the iconic sandstone monolith Uluru (Ayers Rock), the red-rock domes of Kata Tjuta and the sculpted cliffs of Kings Canyon in Watarrka National Park.
Alice Springs is the gateway town to the Red Centre desert.
The NT covers 1,349,129 square kilometres (520,902 sq mi). It is sparsely populated, with a population of only 245,353.
The economy is based largely on mining and petroleum, which during 2018–2019 contributed 23% of the gross state product, or $5.68 billion, accounting for 92.4% of exports.
The capital and largest city is Darwin. The population is concentrated in coastal regions and along the Stuart Highway.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth’s oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east
Vanuatu is a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands that stretch 1,300 kilometers. The islands offer scuba diving at coral reefs, underwater caverns and wrecks such as the WWII-era troopship SS President Coolidge. Harborside Port Vila, the nation’s capital and economic center, is on the island of Efate. The city is home to the Vanuatu National Museum, which explores the nation’s Melanesian culture.
