RSE works well for NZ and Pacific Islands, says Immigration Minister [1]
Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 19:00. Updated on Sunday, April 20, 2014 - 12:14.
By Linny Folau
The Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme to New Zealand (RSE) for the Pacific Islands, including Tongan fruit pickers, has worked well for both the various islands and New Zealand, the Minister of Immigration Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman said today.
Meeting Pacific Journalists on June 23 in Wellington he said the scheme was now into its third year and from New Zealand's perspective it had worked well and had benefited Pacific islands, with workers sending home a significant amount of remittances, while at the same time it was good for New Zealand to have for the first time a reliable and steady labour force to bring in to harvest the horticulture industry.
He said that in previous situations in Hawkes Bay they could not pick all the apples, which were left rotten on the ground.
"From our point of view we are very happy with how RSE has become tuned and we have been around to talk with a few of the employers in the different regions, like Hawkes Bay, Nelson, Central Otago, and they have been delighted with it. At the same time the feedback from the Pacific Islands it that it has worked very well too."
Island communities
He said island communities had benefited as remittances were sent home by workers and that had made a major difference to those island communities in terms of people building new houses.
The Minister said 2010 was the third year of the scheme and now they had workers coming back on a regular basis who know what life is like in New Zealand. It was quite a big adjustment for some of the workers who had never been to New Zealand and so with people coming year after year it meant they already knew the work and had become more productive.
He said there is a general understanding that in order for the scheme to work well the New Zealand employers have to give good support to the workers who are a part of the communities they work in.
In relation to challenges faced by workers, he said they were diminishing over time. "Unfortunately, there have been accidents and incidents but in the wider context RSE has been going very well," he said.
"We are happy with it and we would continue to support it because it's very much a fixture of the New Zealand labour market now."
He said the success of the scheme extends to all workers from the Pacific islands, including Tonga who this year has over 1,000 workers - an increase from the 800 in the first year of RSE.
Need for labour
The Minister stressed that this scheme does not displace New Zealand residents or but it was a top up. If they did not have RSE, work would not have been done in the industry because they had a clear need for labour.
In regards to the future of the RSE scheme the Minister confirmed that the people in the islands should rest assured that it would be continue to be in place and there were no plans to change it.
"We are very pleased with the scheme and the benefit of Pacific workers sending money home to the islands people and I went down to one of the hostels and I saw workers spending money on stuff to ship back home, like beds, so I am very pleased to see how it's working."
Pacific Islands participating in the scheme include Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tuvalu.