Earlier this year the federal government flagged a “backpackers tax”, which wasn’t well received in the country’s agricultural industry. 

The owners of Leeton’s Fruitshack business, which employs many backpackers, as well as giving them a place to stay, were concerned it would impact their business. 

Industry leaders have called on the government to scrap the tax in the budget. 

Leeton Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Graham Heffer had his fingers crossed that the government would do just that, 

“Clearly we need to see a response from the government around the backpacker tax, it is something we want to see (have) advice on and a (strong) commitment so that we can continue to attract these backpackers to the agriculture sector in our shire,” he said.

"One of the things we want to do is ensure we maintain a strong flow of visitors to the country and region.

"Obviously backpackers make a contribution by the fact that they're here as tourists. They also assist, particularly in our shire, in tourism and in agriculture.”

If not removed from the budget, the tax is due to be implemented on July 1. 

"The potential that the backpacker tax has on local producers being unable to source labour has huge impacts," Mr Heffer said.

"You need thousands of people (across the country) for only a few months of the year and the locals just aren't there.

"There's no Australian option to fill the gap that would be created by backpackers.

"I have farmers asking me – should we plant our crops this year?

"This could be an economic disaster for our agriculture sector. We won’t expand the agricultural and horticultural sectors without access to backpackers.”

According to NSW Farmers, on average each backpacker spends around $15,500 during their stay, meanin the Australian economy is set to lose more than $15 million for every 1000 backpackers that decide to go somewhere else for their working holiday.