Labour shortage takes a toll
Fabio Da Silva was running five Canterbury dairy farms and was on a work-to-residency track when an ill-timed skiing holiday to Japan, just before the border closed, cut that short.
He was still there, after his employer Tim Delaney had the sixth visa application for Da Silva turned down on what his immigration adviser said was a technicality. The application to renew his visa was meant to be made by August, but overseas processing was closed and he could not apply.
‘‘His work-to-residency visa has run out, he’s not in the country to apply for the residency and now he’s got nothing. [Immigration] keep saying he doesn’t meet the criteria but I can’t see how it’s possible,’’ Delaney said.
‘‘We pay him more than $100,000, he’s worked here for 10 years and he’s the only person I know that can run five farms.’’
Delaney said he was still paying Da Silva in the hope that he could get him back. Da Silva did not want to return to his native Brazil because of the high rates of Covid-19 there.
‘‘He’s basically our family member. He stays in our house when we go away and he’s the only guy I trust to do that.’’
The Government last week announced there would be 500 spaces in Managed Isolation and Quarantine Facilities for groups of highly skilled workers, but the dairy sector was excluded, upsetting farmers who felt their pleas to the Government to help fill about 2000 vacancies had fallen on deaf ears.
A request by industry groups for a class border exception for the dairy sector, which had highlighted the extent of the labour shortage, was turned down by the Government only
days earlier. Federated Farmers’ employment and immigration spokesman Chris Lewis said the lobby group was ‘‘deeply disappointed’’ the sector had not been included in the most recent exceptions.
It was hoped the Government would have tried to avoid the impact of the labour shortage in horticulture, in the lead-up to peak dairy calving.
Dairy NZ chief executive, Tim Mackle, said the decision had let farmers down.
While the industry would continue to work on longer term recruitment drives, workers who had applied for residency needed their applications fast-tracked, as there were concerns they might look to other countries for employment, he said.
Ben De’Ath, managing director
at immigration consultancy, The Regions, said Delaney’s case reflected the labour shortage in the dairy sector.
Culverden is located between two earthquake-stricken areas, Christchurch and Kaiko¯ura, which had subsequently experienced a labour drain.
Dairy farmers in areas with low populations were most in need, and those farmers were willing to pay for MIQ beds.
Senior decision-makers were poorly informed to suggest that a worker worth $100,000 on the open market could be found locally, let alone in North Canterbury, De’Ath said.
The suggestion by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor that the sector had not done enough to attract workers was not accurate, De’Ath said.
Dairy NZ had set up an online recruitment programme and had collaborated with the Ministry for Social Development. Only the in-person training courses had been ditched due to a lack of interest.
A spokesman for O’Connor said farmers could apply for individual workers to come in under the ‘‘other critical workers’’ category. About 10 per cent of MIQ capacity was allocated for economic-related movements through the border.
De’Ath has launched a petition asking that O’Connor consider 50 MIQ beds, or 1.25 per cent of beds, for the dairy sector a fortnight in the next two months leading up to calving. Employers would pay for the beds as well as the median wage from the time the worker arrived.