Southern charms
Business leaders want 10,000 migrants to fuel the Southland economy, but does the target clash with long-term immigration policy?
New Zealand’s Southland region has launched a drive to attract 10,000 new migrants to the region to boost businesses and grow the community.
A partnership between Southland Chamber of Commerce and the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) has led to the development of a special internship programme linking overseas students with local employers.
Southland’s businesses say they are desperate to attract talent and keep skilled workers in the area.
And the overarching Southland Regional Development Strategy (SoRDS) is co-ordinating the plan of action, bringing together 10 teams of business, iwi and community leaders with the aim of building a bigger, vibrant and culturally-diverse community, supportive of new business and innovation.
But in election year, business leaders fear any clampdown on general immigration numbers by political parties, could derail the region’s people target.
Carla Forbes, President of Southland Chamber of Commerce said: ‘‘We are concerned. Immigration is a huge political issue.
‘‘But in this area we need to grow, not stand still and do nothing, and that’s the case culturally and socially, as well as for business and industry.
‘‘We’re going all out there to bring in new people to boost our communities, our skills base and our economy.’’
Forbes pointed to February’s Maxim Institute report, which warned that Rotorua, Taupo, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Kaipara and the West Coast were all in the same boat as Southland - being among 44 of 67 authorities, which faced population stagnation or decline within the next thirty years.
‘‘Decline such as this could place councils under severe financial strain in terms of funding infrastructure,’’ said Forbes.
SoRDS project manager Sarah Brown, said the current regional population was currently sitting around 98,000.
She said the 10,000 target was set two years ago at the Mayoral Forum, which brought together the four civic leaders from the area and representatives from the business community.
Population was a focus. While the region has 2.3 per cent of New Zealand’s population at present, that figure is expected to shrink to 1.8 per cent by 2025, because of the expected rise in population in other parts of the country.
Brown said: ‘‘The repercussions of that will be a loss of services and a downward flow.
‘‘Another pressure is that 5,000 more Southlanders will be retiring in the next ten years, so we have come up with a plan based on bringing people in.’’
‘‘Our targets will be returning Southlanders, people who have studied elsewhere in the country and are looking to return and those who have moved away for work, as well as international migrants.’’
She said attractions for potential migrants could be affordable house prices and a low unemployment rate.
While many jobs on offer were in the rural sector - there is a large Filipino community working mostly in dairy for example - there was a broad range of roles.
Forbes said there was big difference between the needs of Southland and more populated areas of New Zealand. She said: ‘‘In Auckland, where the infrastructure is struggling and house building cannot keep up with demand, migrants are a sensitive issue. But in Southland we have to plan for the work that is needed now and what is to come. It would be a real shame if any curbs on immigration would slow our growth.’’
Southland Chamber of Commerce’s internship programme with SIT, sees employers take an intern for a few weeks, to benefit from their skills and get used to working with someone from a different culture.
In return, the student gets experience of working in a Southland business to help them decide whether to make their lives and careers there.
SIT’s marketing manager Chami Abeysinghe is originally from Sri Lanka. After completing postgraduate studies at the Institute seven years ago, she decided to stay on.
She said: ‘‘There were not so many international students then. I slowly realised that success depended on recommendations by meeting people.’’
Paul Adams, boss of Invercargill based boatmaker Stabicraft Marine, has taken one of the first interns as part of the programme. Another of his design engineers is from Poland.
He said: ‘‘At the moment, I need a high quality store manager and a couple of industrial designers. It’s hard to find those skills and attract them South. I considered moving the business to Hamilton in the 1990s, but I had everything I needed here. It’s a little bit different, but we work it out.’’
Next week: Meet the businesses that take the opposite view of the value of migrant labour.
In this area we need to grow, not stand still and do nothing.