THE ambitious Pacific Island solution to Victoria's horticulture harvest woe is now in disarray.
The scheme was a dealt a significant blow after workers on a Swan Hill farm quit over pay.
Thirty workers from Vanuatu were flown home at the grower's expense in a dispute now being investigated by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Only months from being made permanent, supporters of the Pacific Seasonal Worker Scheme trial said it would need a review. They have questioned the quality of the labour attracted to the scheme.
The seasonal worker program has been trialled for three years and offers a special seven-month visa and the opportunity to earn Australian wages working as pruners, fruit thinners, pickers and packers.
Workers from Nauru, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu were invited to take part.
Gaye Tripodi from Murrawee Farms, near Swan Hill, says her determination to progress "the Pacific solution" remains undiminished by the events.
The Vanuatu group arrived in September, but were returned four months before their contracts had ended.
Mrs Tripodi said there was a performance issue and a breach of contract by several workers.
"Murrawee Farms and the employment agency spoke to the individual workers and gave them the option to return home individually, or as a whole group, and they decided to return home as a group, of which Murrawee Farms paid for their return air flights under the contract," Mrs Tripodi said, in a statement.
