Unions Tasmania and the ACTU have taken aim at the Morrison Government's new agricultural visa system.

The ACTU said it had "already expanded to cover at least agriculture, fisheries, forestry and meatworks and contains many of the worst elements of previous visa programs which have resulted in systemic exploitation and mistreatment of migrant workers as well as the displacement of local jobs".

"It also fails to properly test if workers in Australia are first offered available jobs."

Unions Tasmania secretary Jessica Munday said about 7 per cent of the state's workforce was in agriculture, forestry or fishing.

"That's a significant sector for us and the government should be focussed on creating good, secure jobs in that industry," Ms Munday said on Wednesday.

"Against this backdrop, Unions Tasmania holds grave concerns that this new visa will create the conditions for further wage theft and worker exploitation here.

"When the government creates visa types like this, they are actually just throwing workers to the wolves."

She said Tasmania had a history of visa worker exploitation.

Braddon Liberal MHR Gavin Pearce backed the program.

"Thank goodness we don't reply upon advice from unions," he said.

"Our industries would be the poorer for it.

"If they'd bothered to do their homework, they'd know the ag visa will be governed by Australian workplace laws."

He said North-West and King Island agriculture had had another bumper year and there was an urgent need for an increase in the labour force.

"The ASEAN program will deliver just that," Mr Pearce said.

"I wholeheartedly welcome the program, the signing of the MOU with the state government for the Tongan component of that Pacific Islander input and the workforce that will result from it, as I know our world's best practice agriculture industry does."

Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said all the workers would come under Australian workplace law.

Announcing the Australian agriculture visa in late August, he said: "The departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Home Affairs and Agriculture, Water and the Environment will design the visa to ensure a high degree of integrity and safeguards for workers."

"We will work closely with partner governments also, including our Pacific family, to ensure their interests are protected."

He said the visa was in response to worker shortages in primary industries

"It gives our farmers a confidence to plant a crop and know that they'll be able to get it into the supply chain," he said.

ACTU president Michele O'Neil said: "This visa will create a second-class workforce in the agriculture, fisheries, forestry and meatworks sectors who will have none of the protections or rights that all Australian workers should be able to rely on."

"Workers in regional areas know what happens when employers get their way on visas: mass exploitation, rock-bottom wages, dangerous conditions and no jobs for local workers.

"With youth unemployment at 10.7 per cent and underemployment at 9.3 per cent, there appears to be no requirement that local workers be offered jobs before businesses bring in vulnerable migrant workers."

Tasmanian Primary Industries Minister Guy Barnett, meanwhile, was spruiking jobs for Tasmanians in the coming harvest season.

"There are fantastic opportunities for locals to work in Tasmanian agriculture, and Tasmanian farmers are planning for this harvest season with more than 1000 jobs advertised on the Harvest Trail website," Mr Barnett said.

"Harvest work peaks between November 2021 and February 2022, and we are continuing to partner with industry to ensure Tasmanian residents are prioritised for these jobs.

"More than 2000 jobactive Tasmanians have already taken on work in the horticulture season over the past 12 months and early results of the Tassie Harvest Jobs - Take Your Pick local worker campaign are positive."