Australian farmers are joining a regional push for the Turnbull Government to avoid making citizenship harder for migrants to obtain.
The farmers say they worry about the effect on vital foreign workers.
It comes as advocates call for an increase to the migrant intake to help revitalise regional Australia.
In the small town of Pyramid Hill in Victoria's north, the Fernandez family is quickly becoming the average rural Australian family.
Marilyn Fernandez, who has been working in a Pyramid Hill piggery for 10 years now. Source: SBS
Marilyn Fernandez, her husband and their six children are among a hundred Filipinos now making up a quarter of the town's population.
Ms Fernandez made the move to Australia a decade ago to work for fifth-generation local Tom Smith at his piggery.
But it meant leaving her family behind.
"It's hard to leave five children -- especially, my youngest was just 11 months old. To leave that, it wasn't easy. But my focus (was), 'Because I would like them to be in a better place, I'll do this."
They were later reunited -- with help from the community, which raised funds for the airfares.
She says she has not questioned her move ever since.
"It's so generous. Imagine, nearly $5,000 for me to be able to go home and pick them up with my youngest, because he's only about three years old, my youngest. My husband is working then, so we needed to go over there and pick up my three oldest kids. Amazing."
For her boss, Mr Smith, the generosity was well worth it. His piggery is now one of the most successful in Australia.
He says the Filipino staff have helped turn it around.
Indeed, he says advertising for staff in Manila was the best thing he ever did.
"The guys are just so appreciative of being here. They really are. It is rewarding to see that. Part of life, I believe, is it's great and it's good to be able to give people opportunity. You don't really have to go further than that. You put the opportunity up out there, it's up to them to grab it. And I think that's the best way to develop in any form."
Nationals MP Damian Drum says the experience in Pyramid Hill is one he would like to see replicated across Australia.
"A fantastic example here from Pyramid Hill, but that example here can be replicated right around Australia. And I think the Filipino community, certainly in Pyramid Hill but in many other communities, are doing themselves proud by the way they go about their work and the way they live their lives."
The Regional Australia Institute is calling on the Federal Government to increase its migrant intake by an extra 3,000 people a year to make up for the annual population loss in regional Australia.
Source: Creative Commons
Damian Drum says work is also underway to roll out a new agricultural visa to help direct people into rural industries.
"We need access to foreign workers to do those jobs that Australians won't do. And then, once we get that under control, I think we can then spread that ag (agriculture) visa role, that idea, out to other trades."
Regional Australia Institute chief executive Jack Archer says he would like to see the pathway to citizenship made easier to attract more workers to regional areas.
"Look, I think the idea of having a special visa for agriculture is something to look at. I mean, we can't miss out on the services opportunities, though, as well, you know. We need doctors, we need people to work in services industries, we need mechanics to work in the businesses that support agriculture. So, what we're saying is we need the visa system to support the needs of these places. If an agriculture visa is something that helps make that happen as part of the changes we're asking for, then that would be a good thing. The pathway to permanency here is also really important. For people who demonstrate that they're coming here for the long term -- their kids are in school, they're buying houses, they're in jobs long-term -- let's make the pathway to becoming permanent residents in Australia really easy and a significant source of aspiration, because we know that will draw people in as well."
