KiwiBuild visa to be scrapped
The Government has scrapped its KiwiBuild Visa plan in favour of wider proposed changes to immigration settings to fix a 30,000 worker gap in construction.
A Cabinet paper released alongside the proposed changes warns that without them costs for KiwiBuild could blow out.
The proposed changes include a KiwiBuild Skills Shortages list, which would set up a simplified process for employers to quickly hire overseas workers in critical roles without Immigration NZ needing to conduct a market test each time.
This is based on the model used by the last Government to bring in workers to help with the Canterbury rebuild.
Employers in the construction sector with proven good practice would also have access to either accreditation or another pre-approval model so they could also hire overseas workers more quickly.
But labour hire companies who bring in workers for other industries from overseas might require accreditation to make sure they are not exploiting workers or undercutting the wages of domestic workers.
The raft of changes were proposed by Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway yesterday and are out for consultation with the construction sector.
They have already been taken to Cabinet.
The Skills Shortage List could be in place as soon as Christmas.
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) estimate New Zealand is about 30,000 workers short.
‘‘We have ambitious plans to build houses, transport links and other infrastructure, but a shortage of skilled workers is holding up the rapid progress we need to make,’’ Lees-Galloway said.
‘‘As part of the Construction Skills Strategy, led by my colleague Minister Jenny Salesa, we are proposing a range of measures to assist the building and construction industry to get the workers it needs right now, alongside a comprehensive Action Plan to develop the domestic workforce for the longer term.
‘‘Our proposed KiwiBuild Skills Shortage List means building and construction firms can go through a quicker process to get the skilled workers they need, when they can’t recruit locally.
‘‘We would also look to introduce a streamlined process so firms which have good employment practices and a commitment to employ local workers can be pre-approved to bring in workers from overseas.’’
This plan replaces the KiwiBuild Visa Labour talked about during the campaign.
Lees-Galloway said this plan would work faster and apply more widely.
‘‘It’s clear we need workers to be available more quickly; these proposals aim to speed up the process and circumvent the need to create a new visa category,’’ Lees-Galloway said.
The old plan of a KiwiBuild visa would have included a requirement that a Kiwi be trained up for every foreigner hired.
That has been dropped but all Government-backed building projects will have a requirement for some education or training of Kiwi workers by the builders.
The measures would all be temporary, but Lees-Galloway could not say exactly how long they would last at this point, saying he was waiting to hear from the industry what a reasonable time limit would be.
The Skills Shortage List follows a similar approach used during the Canterbury rebuild.
Lees-Galloway stressed they would not be long-term changes – as he wanted Kiwis hired for the jobs eventually.
‘‘Any changes would be time limited so that the sector doesn’t become permanently dependent on migrant workers, but does allow time to train up Kiwis.’’
‘‘We want a sustainable construction workforce to provide opportunities for New Zealanders to train and work in the sector.
‘‘But that doesn’t happen overnight, which is why we need these changes for the short term.’’
Lees-Galloway made a commitment that all workers brought here would be paid the same as or better than what a Kiwi doing the same job would.
‘‘That’s a bottom line for me,’’ he said.
A Cabinet paper proactively released by Lees-Galloway notes ‘‘the construction workforce does not have the size and skills to deliver New Zealand’s growing pipeline of construction projects.’’
This includes the Government’s plan to build 100,000 affordable houses – known as KiwiBuild – and a $28b transport package for Auckland.
One of the main criticisms of KiwiBuild from the wider sector has been around the lack of workers in the industry.
This contributed to Treasury halving its initial expectation of how much investment the plan would bring in at the Budget.
A raft of initiatives to grow the construction workforce, which is increasingly well-paid, are already underway.
Currently just one in 10 construction sector employers have one or more apprentices, and last year more than 1000 job seekers took part in a MSD scheme to train up construction workers.
National’s Immigration spokesman Michael Woodhouse called the move nothing but a branding exercise and admission of defeat from Labour, who had promised to bring immigration down.
‘‘Construction sector occupations were already on the skills shortage lists meaning it was already easier for construction workers to come here because National knew they were important all along,’’ Woodhouse said.
The party’s housing spokeswoman Judith Collins said the move was a sign of failure in KiwiBuild.
‘‘KiwiBuild has staggered from failure to failure and [Housing Minister Phil] Twyford has continued to show he has no idea what he’s doing,’’ Collins said.
‘‘This is a shameless climbdown and there’s nothing Kiwi left in KiwiBuild.’’