Leaky waka
OPINION: Was the ASB Economic Weekly throwing shade on Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr when reporting on his speech in Washington recently?
Even blind Freddy could have seen that the impact of Covid on getting foreign workers would be a major problem for the horticulture sector and lazy locals would not do the job.
However, instead of making plans to fast-track ways for international workers to come into the country, government – in their infinite wisdom – decided unemployed New Zealanders would fill the gap.
They developed a scheme, available to anyone who moved off a benefit, offering up to $200 a week for accommodation costs and a $1,000 incentive payment for workers, who completed jobs of six weeks or longer.
Guess how many unemployed locals took up the scheme? A staggering 54! Not so much unemployed, but unemployable!
