Results for New Zealand

New Zealand has opened up work visa applications for people offshore, while its borders will be fully open at the end of the month, with student and visitor visa applications opening from 31 July. Immigration Minister Michael Wood said this is the third and final stage of the new simplified Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) policy which opens today, allowing migrants offshore to apply for a work visa to come and work in New Zealand for an accredited employer.

New Zealand will fully reopen its border by the end of July, three months earlier than originally planned. Visitors from Pacific Islands Forum countries can apply for visas starting on Monday, 16 May.

The New Zealand Defence Force ships HMNZ Canterbury and HMNZ Wellington left Tonga last Friday after assisting with relief efforts following last month’s undersea eruption and tsunami. The NZDF’s deliveries of aid and water have been contactless. Helicopters on board have surveyed damaged areas, and flew Digicel technicians to uninhabited Kao Island to assist in work to restore communications links to Ha’apai.

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has provided Tongan communities with more than half a million litres of fresh water and continues to transport much-needed aid to Tonga with a fourth Hercules flight scheduled tomorrow, Tuesday.

A new investment fund to support COVID-19 recovery in the Pacific was announced by the New Zealand government on December 13. New Zealand is committing $17 million to the fund which is expected to attract an additional $40 million in private investment, and will offer both flexible capital and a technical assistance facility to accelerate investments across the Pacific region.

Ana Waalkens spent a week in Auckland City Hospital's intensive care unit after falling ill days after a growing Delta outbreak was discovered in Auckland in August - and before the 38-year-old was eligible to be vaccinated. Waalkens is telling her story because she wants everyone, especially fellow Pasifika - she has Tongan heritage - to get vaccinated so they don't suffer as she and her family had. Waalkens was fighting for her life. "My family and friends all thought I was going to die,” she said. By Cherie Howie, Reporter NZ Herald.

In New Zealand, the University of Waikato, in support of increased Covid-19 vaccination rates among Māori and Pacific communities, will host a vaccination clinic and drive on September 16 to mark Kīngitanga day. There is concern that vaccination rates among the Māori and Pacific communities are lower when compared to the New Zealand national average, while some studies also suggest that Pacific people are three times more likely to need hospitalisation when infected with the virus than non-Pacific people.

A 34-year-old man jointly charged with the murder of Tongan seasonal worker, Hiko Lynch (23) in Blenheim, Marlborough has been denied bail. He is remanded in custody to appear in September.

Fuifui ‘Ealelei (36) of Haveluloto reportedly passed away in his sleep on Sunday, May 16 in Hastings, Hawke's Bay.