Chief advocate Mark Panitz said Growcom had been calling for such a scheme for a number of years.

The government’s announcement yesterday appeared to imply the pilot would initially be conducted only in two production areas – Swan Hill (in Victoria) and Griffith (in southern NSW).

Mr Panitz said, however, that Queensland was still in the mix of regions to be considered for the trial of the scheme - the locations had not yet been finalised.

After talking to the office of the federal Minister for Agriculture this morning, he confirmed that the government was keen to work with the horticulture sector in Queensland to get a trial in place.

“Queensland produces more than one third of Australia’s horticulture crop – with a farm gate value of around $2 billion a year," he said.

"We have the most widely dispersed production areas, the most diverse production base, and some of the worst impacts on labour availability from the mining industry boom.

In particular, the pilot will run for three years, which should benefit more horticulture regions - those where demand for labour is in the winter months rather than in summer, as in the south.