Displaying items by tag: immigration

Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has thrown the worker shortage issue back to farmers, saying the industry must try harder to attract and retain workers.

Allowing only 125 skilled agricultural machinery operators into New Zealand next season falls way short of what's needed, says rural contractors.

Horticultural exporters, growers, food companies and industry leaders are demanding that the Government develops a plan to allow Pacific Island seasonal workers to return later this year.

About 250 new employees have already bolstered the kiwifruit industry’s worker shortage.

OPINION: Recent proposals by the Government to make it easier for regions to get workers look like a step — if not a leap — in the right direction.

A 7,500 signature petition was presented to parliament last week calling for changes to NZ’s immigration laws.

OPINION: Immigration NZ should attract immigrants to our primary sector as well as they attract overseas investors and entrepreneurs to our economy.

A government policy of a compulsory stand-down that would send home certain migrant workers after three years is a ‘vote-catcher’ they don’t intend to implement, says immigration law specialist Ben De’Ath.

Most migrant applicants for a special South Island Contribution Work Visa are in farming, as shown by figures from Immigration NZ.

DairyNZ says proposed new rules on migrant workers will make it harder to employ and retain good staff.