Border exemptions for 2000 Pacific workers
The Government has announced it will allow 2000 horticultural workers from the Pacific to enter New Zealand in the new year under strict conditions, in the first significant opening of the border to foreign workers since the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Under the Registered Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, workers from various Pacific Island nations will be able to enter the country between January and March next year to help plug labour shortages in the horticultural and wine sectors.
However, employers must meet strict criteria. Companies will be required to cover the cost of managed isolation, currently estimated at $4722 per person in addition to paying the workers a minimum of $22.10 an hour.
They will also be required to pay workers for a 30-hour working week while in isolation.
It is the single biggest economic-based border exception to date, second only to an exception created for critical health workers. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said the Government had listened to concerns raised by the sectors facing a labour crunch.
‘‘We accept they need help to meet labour shortages that threaten harvests this coming season, so we are acting to allow up to 2000 experienced RSE scheme workers to come to New Zealand from certain Pacific Island countries. As there is limited capacity in managed isolation facilities (MIQ), entry will be staggered, with workers coming in groups, starting from mid-January, to avoid peak holiday demand from New Zealanders wanting to return for Christmas,’’ O’Connor said.
The Government said it was working with industry representatives to determine how many workers each employer could get.
Workers are expected to be moved around regions and employers with the greatest need and to meet harvest requirements that have not been otherwise filled. The Government had already reserved spaces for the RSE workers in isolation facilities and there would be very limited availability for the rest of the year. The vast majority were still being used for returning Kiwis.
‘‘We have been working with the sector for quite a long time, trying to get the balance right,’’ Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi told Stuff. While acknowledging that the sector would be left ‘‘quite a bit short’’ of the desired number of workers, Faafoi said the process was pragmatic and the Government was still working on ways to get Kiwis into the jobs. ‘‘I take my hat off to them, I think we have got quite a good balance,’’ Faafoi said, saying that the sector had responded well to paying workers while in isolation and agreeing to the Government’s pay rates.
Faafoi also confirmed the Government currently had no plan for a large-scale exemption for agricultural workers but pointed to about 60 shearers that recently got exemptions to come to New Zealand. He said it was ‘‘a balance of working with the sectors’’ while also managing capacity in isolation facilities.
Faafoi said the exemption would also help New Zealand’s Pacific Island neighbours whose economies were hit hard by Covid-19, as their seasonal workers provided important remittances.
The exception will only be open to Pacific nations.