Open Plea to Jacinda Ardern: Please Allow Fijian Workers to Come and Help NZ Fruit Growers
Fijian workers will be queuing up to travel to New Zealand to help the fruit growers there in their crisis.
The crisis is that they face a labour shortage for fruit pickers and fruits like apples are lying rotting on the ground.
The growers themselves have appealed to their Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to relax the border restrictions and allow Pacific Islands workers, especially from Fiji and Samoa to pick up the slack.
We could apply the proverbial apple to apple rationale here.
New Zealand growers need the workers, Fiji provides them.
Ms Ardern could look at it on a case by case basis as she considers which country is safe to do business with. Fiji has proved that it is a low risk country because of the integrity of its border security – better than New Zealand. It’s all the more reason why it is safer to have a no-quarantine travel bubble with New Zealand. If New Zealand rates Australia as a low risk country then Fiji is in a better position than Australia because it has had no community transmitted cases for more than 330 days now. This is a better achievement than Australia and New Zealand put together.
At least, what Ms Ardern could do is to let Fijian workers go to New Zealand to pick fruits. That’s what New Zealand fruit growers urgently need. Ms Ardern says in terms of a Fiji or Samoa bubble it has to be looked at from a regional perspective as many Pacific Islands do not want to reopen their border.
Many of these small island nations are independent states and they should not be lumped together as a group. If Fiji is ready to move ahead why should it be held back by say Papua New Guinea.
Ms Ardern’s explanation does not make sense when their fruit growers in Hawke’s Bay, Bay of Plenty and Central Otago are crying for help. She had encouraged the growers to hire locally to reduce the unemployment rate there. But it’s not working because the Kiwis find fruit-picking laborious and therefore unattractive.
Fijian fruit pickers are popular in New Zealand and growers want more of them. It is estimated that if the required number of fruit pickers are not found, this season the horticulture sector will see a 30 per cent drop in harvest. This could translate to a loss of $1.2 billion in export earnings.
The fruit industry reportedly needs thousands of workers when the season begins. The first harvests of fruits are supposed to be picked in a few weeks time. This dire situation for growers should support our lobby in Wellington via our Fijian High Commission for the recruitment of more Fijian workers.
Our relevant ministries, Foreign Affairs and Employment, industrial Relations and Productivity, in Suva should also work the diplomatic channels by talking to Jonathan Curr, the New Zealand Ambassador. Mr Curr is a good friend of Fiji and he may be able to help efforts to convince Ms Ardern to change her mind. If she does it will be a win-win outcome for the two countries.