Village to Village: Loans and learning for RSE workers
A new social enterprise to repay the sacrifice of seasonal workers represents chicken feed for Allain Liu-Vitivae - in all the right ways.
Over 1,000 Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers in the Hawke’s Bay have now been immunised against measles.
Since August, five immunisation outreach clinics have been held in Hawke’s Bay for RSE scheme workers who have recently arrived in New Zealand from the Pacific to work in the horticultural sector.
Over the past six months, 1205 RSE workers from Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu have been given the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine in the Hawke’s Bay alone.
Project lead, Pacific Health Central regional director, Sipaia Kupa says it’s important to protect these workers and their families back home from another potential measles outbreak and to prevent an outbreak in New Zealand too.
“Measles is one of the most dangerous and contagious diseases,” Kupa says. “If you and your whanau aren’t immunised or aren’t sure, now is the time to check. This is the only way to stop you getting measles.”
The risk of a measles outbreak in New Zealand is currently considered high due to low immunisation rates both nationally and internationally.
In 2019, a measles outbreak in Samoa saw over 3% of the population infected with the disease, resulting in 5,700 cases and 83 deaths.
Director of Pacific public health, Api Poutasi says the initiative is an example of collaboration between teams from Health NZ, the horticulture and viticulture industries, government agencies and Pacific non-government organisations such as Taeaomanino Trust.
“Vaccination is the best protection against measles,” Poutasi says. “This initiative is part of our broader efforts to protect populations that are at-risk of contracting measles, this includes groups like RSE workers but also our tamarki/children.”
The immunisation team was made up of health practitioners from Hawke’s Bay Public Health, Hawke’s Bay Pacific Hospital Specialist Service team and the Pacific Regional Community Hub (PaRCH).
Similar clinics have been run in Bay of Plenty, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Nelson, and Northland as part of this National Public Health Service (NPHS) led, and Pacific Health managed initiative.
Nelson-Tasman, Marlborough and Bay of Plenty are currently planning for RSE worker arrivals in early 2025.
Three weeks on from Bremworth’s board overhaul, the carpet maker’s chief executive Greg Smith is stepping down.
For Marlborough Sounds farmer Noel Moleta, farming hair sheep that need no shearing is one of the keys to running a low-input, low-intervention operation in a difficult and highly remote location.
OPINION: Making it easier to get things done while protecting the environment - that's the Government's promise when it comes to the overhaul of the problematic Resource Management Act (RMA).
DairyNZ has set a new levy rate of 4.5c/kgMS from 1 June 2025 and aims to keep the levy at no more than this rate for a minimum of three years.
As it enters its second year, Zespri says the first year of the Zespri Innovation Fund (ZAG), has been “really positive”.
Rural trader Farmlands has launched an exclusive new casual clothing range across its 42 stores nationwide and online.
OPINION: In the same way that even a stopped clock is right twice a day, economists sometimes get it right.
OPINION: The proposed RMA reforms took a while to drop but were well signaled after the election.