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!
