Why does Australia want Brits to swap Sydney for the outback?

In a Mexican restaurant in north-east Australia, the nacho bowls are served by staff from France, Italy, Ireland and Argentina.Cairns has long attracted a young and transient international crowd, who enjoy the tropical lifestyle while earning money for travel.But one nationality is in shorter supply than it used to be."You get far fewer British backpackers looking for jobs here these days," says Mexicairns owner Peter McLeay.It's a trend McLeay has noticed since mid-2023, when a free trade deal between the UK and Australia kicked in.That agreement - as well as tariff-free trade in Tim Tams and Penguins - included special treatment for Brits on working holiday visas: exemption from having to find jobs in regional or remote places if they wanted to remain beyond a year.That, along with an increase in the age limit from 30 to 35 saw backpacker visas issued to Brits surging from 47,200 in 2023-24 to just over 77,000 in 2025-26, according to the latest Australian government data.Without the incentive to go regional, many are choosing to base themselves in the big cities, or, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, "Bondi or Coogee" - two of Sydney's most famous beachside suburbs.Now though, with Brits making up almost a quarter of all 323,000 backpacker visas issued last year, his government wants the free trade deal to be revisited."Many Brits don't treat it as a working holiday anymore. It's more a three-year career break," says Dan McConnell, general manager of the Mad Monkey backpacker hostel chain.He says Brits used to be the largest clientele at its Cairns accommodation but "now French outnumber British three to one"."We see the Brits get to Sydney, decide it's the coolest place in the world, and stay there," he adds.It's a privilege not enjoyed by working holidaymakers from other countries who must do at least 88 days of "specified regional work" in industries that need a seasonal or temporary workforce - including agriculture, fisheries, tourism and hospitality - if they want to quality for a second year extension, and six months to stay a third year.Barely a month ago, Albanese ruled out forcing British backpackers to do the same, accepting it as part of the trade deal.But, under pressure from businesses here in Far North Queensland and other regional Australian communities, who are concerned about a lack of labour, the mood music has changed.Last week Albanese met UK counterpart Andy Burnham at the meeting of Commonwealth leaders in the Caribbean.And alongside AI, gender violence online and the AUKUS defence pact, backpackers were on the agenda.Despite speculation in the Australian media, no immediate announcement was made. Albanese instead told reporters that he had pushed for a change in the rules on backpackers and that Burnham had been "very constructive about it"."We'll work those issues through over coming weeks," he said adding that the free trade agreement was not set in stone and tweaks could be made "if there are good policy reasons".Backpackers make up one in seven farm jobs across Australia, with about 52,000 people on working holiday visas doing jobs in horticulture each year, according to the National Farmers Federation.It welcomed Albanese's discussions with Burnham, but said the issue of worker shortages in agriculture was far broader than the UK deal.Of greater concern are wider proposals, announced in September, to cut net migration into Australia, under political pressure from the resurgent right wing populist One Nation party and the opposition coalition.That includes an overhaul of the working holiday visa system, introducing a ballot for backpackers wanting to extend their stay – capped at 45,000 for people wanting a second year in Australia (down from 57,000 who qualified this year) and just 5,000 allowed to remain for a third year (compared with 31,000 this year).This, the federation says, is "a low blow".Those plans are still out for consultation, but immigration officials have slowed processing rates for some working holiday visa applications and paused them from several countries.Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen has also been among those lobbying Albanese in Canberra - telling him that backpackers brought both the spending power and the temporary labour needed to fill seasonal roles in a region famed as a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and the Unesco world heritage listed Daintree rainforest.Young Brits temporarily living and working in this region peaked at around 20,000 he says. Now it's closer to 11,000."Numbers have dropped significantly since the UK free trade agreement kicked in when border arrangements returned to normal [after the pandemic] in 2023 ," he said.Cairns restaurateur Fintan Rafferty says that of about 180 staff on his payroll across four venues, only five are British. Prior to the visa rule change, that was closer to 25.UK workers came with good skills in hospitality and "were willing to work, and to work flexible hours", he told the BBC.And, he said, it was a two-way street. "The pay is very good, the conditions are very good. And one of the great things about the 88-days rule is that it forces people to travel. It's enriching their experience."Bucking the trend, at the bar of Gilligan's backpackers, Paige Tomlinson serves vodka and soda with plenty of ice and a broad South Yorkshire accent.The 27-year-old, from Barnsley, has been in Cairns for four months, attracted by the "chilled" lifestyle and local waterfalls."Most people prefer Sydney and they question me all the time why I'm here," she laughs. "But I got to Sydney and I just didn't like it. It was too busy, too much like London and I don't like London."She says she'd like to see the regional work requirement brought in for all Brits, "getting them out their comfort zone"."If every other country's got to do it, why should we not?"About 200km north, at Red Valley Farm in Lakeland, general manger Peter Inderbitzen agrees.Workers mainly from Tonga, hired on a Pacific labour scheme, pick bananas there year-round,But Inderbitzen also relies heavily on backpackers, especially at peak avocado season, employing about 25 people for a couple of months each year."It's very short, sharp, get it done, get it out kind of work," he told the BBC. "But without those pickers, the avos stay on the tree."While a few British backpackers were still applying for work, numbers had "completely dropped off" since the rule change, said Inderbitzen, who'd "love" to see British travellers having an incentive to head to the regions."As much as it wasn't perfect, [that programme] was working."Back in Cairns, most of the young Brits the BBC tracks down are on tourist visas - but many want to return for a working holiday.Among them is Ethan Phillips, 23, from Buckinghamshire who has been having way too much fun to keep up to date with what politicians have been discussing."It makes sense for them to want us to do [regional work] again," he says. "I mean I'd rather not do it, but if we have to, it's only three months … it can't be that bad."