Winegrowers support new seasonal visa policy
The new Global Workforce Seasonal Visa will provide longer term certainty for wineries, says NZW Chief Executive Philip Gregan.
Qualified overseas vets are giving up on plans to work in New Zealand because they cannot secure MIQ spots.
Despite the Government granting 50 border class exceptions three months ago, only two vets have arrived in the country. Two others are on their way and six are awaiting MIQ spots.
NZ Veterinary Association chief executive Kevin Bryant told Rural News that others have hit the “pause button”.
“The situation is hopeless,” he says. “We have a good process in place with Ministry for Primary Industries and Immigration NZ but the roadblock is MIQ.”
Overseas vets need to plan their move to NZ. They have to give three months notice to employers back home, pack up belongings and in some cases arrange schooling.
Bryant says vets are reluctant to plan with no guarantee of MIQ spaces.
“Some of them are saying why even apply for visas when there is no MIQ space available.”
The delay in arrival of overseas vets is exacerbating the situation in vet clinics around the country. About 50% of the shortage is in rural areas.
Bryant says the association has worked well with MPI and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor to get border class exception for an additional 50 general practice veterinarians to enter the country.
“But MPI don’t control MIQ, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) does that,” he says.
“There’s a limit to what MPI can do.”
Bryant says the NZVA is trying to “lift understanding” within MBIE.
Julie South of recruitment agency, VetStaff agrees that securing an MIQ space is the major hurdle.
South says it’s clear that the government departments – Immigration NZ, MPI and MBIE – “aren’t on the same page” when it comes to allowing critical overseas workers in.
“I would have expected that when one government department signs off on something to do with an essential worker – like getting them here – that other government departments would all be on the same page to make sure essential workers could get into NZ as soon as possible,” she told Rural News.
South says she’s flabbergasted that MBIE won’t set aside MIQ spaces to allow essential workers to get into NZ so they can work here.
A survey by NZVA earlier this year showed that 120 extra vets were needed by clinics around the country. The delay in arrivals is making a bad situation worse.
Bryant believes the lack of action is jeopardising the wellbeing of animals. He says NZVA are concerned about the possible impact of delaying things any further.
Like many manufacturers around the world, European agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturers are currently operating in a difficult market environment. But they are heading to the world’s largest agricultural machinery event in Hanover next month with a degree of cautious optimism.
Established in 2021, the John Deere Technician of the Year Awards champion the important contribution parts and service technicians make to the Australian and New Zealand agriculture, construction and forestry industries.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
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