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Backpackers to Boost Australian Bushfire Recovery

Phil Mercer

   SYDNEY - Australia hopes visa changes will encourage foreign
   backpackers to join the mammoth bushfire recovery effort. The working
   vacationers would be allowed to stay longer under new rules if they
   help in disaster-hit areas.

   The scale of Australia's recovery from the bushfire crisis is immense.
   Since July, almost 16 million hectares of land have been scorched.
   Lives and livelihoods have been lost, along with thousands of homes.

   The government says overseas backpackers will be crucial in helping to
   rebuild homes, roads and farms, as well as helping with demolition,
   land clearing and repairing railways.

   Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge says young foreign travelers
   have a big part to play in the recovery effort.

   "There is so much work to do," Tudge said. "We need all hands on deck
   and that includes the international backpackers who we know want to
   make their contribution as well."

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