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More calls are fielded by Federated Farmers Southland about tough immigration criteria for migrants than about any other issue, says the region’s president Russell MacPherson.
“A bit too tough” is how he describes criteria for migrants, including Filipinos and other nationals wanting to live and work in Southland.
The situation has gone sour. Filipino dairy workers, whose labour is said to have underpinned Southland’s dairying, are now leaving New Zealand.
And many are no longer seeking entry, says Anne Hanning, of Hanning Immigration, Invercargill. She files and supports residency applications for many Filipinos, but sees many turned down by Immigration New Zealand. Many go where residency is easier to get.
Hanning says many Filipino families approaching Immigration NZ casually are rejected as not meeting the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) criteria for residency in either country.
Dorothea Hawkins, chair of the Southland Filipino Society, says the Filipinos are getting a hard time from Immigration NZ. She says her nephew was declined residency and went to Canada, getting dairy farm work and residency after one year there.
She says it is “ridiculous” that Immigration NZ is inviting people to apply for residency at great cost when about 85% of applications received in Southland are declined.
Without residency visas, Filipinos workers here on worker visas had to leave New Zealand when they reached age 54, she says. – Peter Owens
This year’s Fieldays will feature a Rural Advocacy Hub - bringing together various rural organisations who are advocating for farmers and championing their interests as one team, under one roof, for the first time.
Farmers have been airing their concerns to the Government over changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme.
Southland farmers are welcoming moves by the Government to repeal intensive winter grazing rules.
A new report shows farm employers across the dairy, sheep and beef, and arable sectors have continued to invest strongly in one of their greatest assets – their staff.
Federated Farmers says changes announced to the Resource Management Act today mark the end of the war on farming.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products.
There have been leadership changes at the Hamilton-based Dairy Goat Co-operative, which has been struggling financially in recent years.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
OPINION: In recent years farmers have been crying foul of unworkable and expensive regulations.
Another 16 commercial beef farmers have been selected to take part in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme designed to help drive the uptake of genetics in the industry.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Kiwi exporters will be $100 million better off today as the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into force.
