VOA新闻杂志2022 澳大利亚邀请学生和游客帮助解决劳动力短缺问题（在线收听）

Australia's government has invited backpackers and students to seek work in the country.

澳大利亚政府邀请背包客和学生来澳大利亚找工作。

"Backpackers" are mostly younger people who travel in a simple way and do not spend very much money.

“背包客”大多是比较年轻的人，他们以简单的方式旅行，不会花很多钱。

The move is an effort to fill critical workforce shortages as Australia faces an outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

此举是为了填补澳大利亚严重的劳动力短缺，目前澳大利亚正面临奥密克戎的爆发。

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday said his government would not require backpackers or students arriving in the next several weeks to pay the usual $453 visa cost.

澳大利亚总理斯科特·莫里森周三表示，他的政府将不会要求在未来几周内抵达的背包客或学生支付通常的453美元的签证费用。

He also urged such visitors to seek work as they travel around the country.

他还敦促这些游客在全国各地旅行时寻找工作。

"Come on down now because you wanted to come to Australia," Morrison said during a televised press conference.

莫里森在电视新闻发布会上说：“现在来吧，因为你们想来澳大利亚。”

He added that the backpackers and students could seek work in agriculture, hospitality and "so many other parts of the economy" that lack enough workers.

他还说，背包客和学生可以在农业、酒店业和“许多其他经济领域”找工作，这些领域缺乏足够的劳动力。

The announcement comes as Morrison faces criticism at the beginning of an election year.

这一声明是在选举年伊始莫里森面临批评之际宣布的。

Critics say he has not done well in dealing with the Omicron outbreak.

批评人士表示，他在应对奥密克戎爆发方面做得不好。

Australia is experiencing record numbers of new infections and deaths.

澳大利亚正在经历创纪录的新增感染和死亡人数。

Officials in Australia reported 67 new deaths and nearly 80,000 new cases on Wednesday.

澳大利亚官员周三报告了67例新增死亡病例和近8万例新增病例。

Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly said Australians should expect the pandemic's total death numbers to rise.

首席卫生官保罗·凯利表示，澳大利亚人应该预料到疫情的总死亡人数会上升。

Australian businesses are struggling with the growing number of workers who are sick or ordered to isolate.

澳大利亚的企业正在努力应对越来越多的患病的或被要求隔离的员工。

The labor shortage has led to supply shortages.

劳动力短缺导致供应短缺。

Food stores have put in place purchase limits on some goods.

食品店对一些商品实行了限购。

Rising hospitalizations have put pressure on the health system.

住院人数的增加给医疗系统带来了压力。

Nearly 1.3 million cases of the country's total of 1.6 million cases have been reported in the past two weeks.

在过去的两周里，澳大利亚总共160万例病例中，有近130万例报告感染了新冠肺炎。

Morrison is also facing criticism over the shortage of at-home rapid tests.

澳大利亚面临家用快速检测试剂短缺的情况，莫里森也因此遭到民众批评。

On Wednesday, he urged state leaders to drop any requirements for workers in most industries to take daily rapid tests.

周三，他敦促各州领导人放弃对大多数行业员工每天进行快速检测的任何要求。

The federal government also promised to buy 52 million tests this month from Asia and the United States.

联邦政府还承诺本月将从亚洲和美国购买5200只检测试剂。

As the country faces a shortage of tests, police on Wednesday said 42,000 tests worth about $500,000 were stolen from a freight station in Sydney.

在澳大利亚面临试剂短缺的情况时，澳大利亚警方周三表示，悉尼一个货运站有4.2万只试剂被盗，价值约50万美元。