Editorial: Dairy visa woes set to ease
OPINION: Dairy farmers will be breathing easier thanks to the Government last month delivering a Christmas gift in the form of immigration reforms.
A welcome relief – that’s how the New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) is describing the decision to include veterinarians on the new Government Green List.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the Green List which is designed to provide a streamlined and prioritised pathway to residency, incentivising highly skilled workers to relocate to New Zealand long term.
The list includes 85 hard-to-fill roles, including veterinarians, to help attract and retain high-skilled workers to alleviate skill shortages.
NZVA chief executive Kevin Bryant says he welcomes the news, adding it was urgently required to help tackle the current workforce shortage in veterinary practices across the country.
“Veterinary professionals have been under incredible pressure ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began," Bryant says. "Being included on the Green List will make it much easier to actively recruit highly-skilled veterinarians to work here."
Visa extensions have also been announced for approximately 20,000 migrants already in New Zealand to ensure skilled workers can stay in the country.
Commodity prices and interest rates play a huge role in shaping farmer confidence, but these factors are beyond their control, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre.
DairyNZ is supporting a proposed new learning model for apprenticeships and traineeships that would see training, education, and pastoral care delivered together to provide the best chance of success.
Two agritech companies have joined forces to help eliminate manual entry and save farmer time.
The recent squabble between the Cook Islands and NZ over their deal with China has added a new element of tension in the relationship between China and NZ.
The world is now amid potentially one of the most disruptive periods in world trade for a very long time.
Former Westland Milk boss Richard Wyeth is taking over as chief executive of Canterbury milk processor Synlait from May 19.
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