Marlborough keen to get wine industry skills on the visa fast-track after regional lists announced

Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Immigration Minister Ian Lees-Galloway announced proposed changes to employer-assisted temporary work visas from Ashburton, where a recent report found 500 job vacancies in the area.

A plan to introduce a regional skills shortage list has been met with cautious enthusiasm by wine industry advocates in New Zealand's wine capital.

Wine Marlborough advocate Vance Kerslake said a regional skills shortage list could be good for Marlborough, depending on the final form of the legislation.

'It was great to hear the news,' Kerslake said. 'This is something we advocated for and it's really great to see the Government moving on that.'

A cellar hand in a winery's barrel room.

Immigration Minister Ian Lees-Galloway announced the regional skills shortage list, which would replace the current system of essential skills in demand lists, on Tuesday as regional New Zealand battled to retain skilled workers.

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Wine Marlborough advocacy manager Vance Kerslake.

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Cellar doors, where wine and tourism overlap.

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Iain Lees-Galloway launched the government's new immigration policy in Ashburton on Tuesday.

Kerslake said Wine Marlborough had been asked to provide feedback and consultation on the act, and said the list should be very beneficial for Marlborough.

A recent Wine Marlborough work survey revealed a severe lack of skilled workers in the region; 85 per cent of respondents reported vacancies for permanent, skilled positions.

Tractor Repairs and Spares manager Craig Wadsworth was constantly on the look out for skilled mechanics in Marlborough.

More than half of the surveyed businesses said it was 'very difficult' to fill skilled work positions.

'From a wine industry perspective, the greatest skill shortage we have are in the vineyards, machinery operators and vineyard assistants,' Kerslake said.

Cafe Home owner Geoff Pybus said it was difficult to hire skilled staff in the hospitality sector.

'In the winery, cellar hands and assistant winemakers; those are the main ones that have been highlighted for us.'

Kerslake said Immigration New Zealand considered those roles to be low-skilled, however Wine Marlborough disagreed.

'We want to change the setting to reflect the regional shortages we have. I'm not talking about seasonal roles, but permanent positions,' he said.

The legislation wasn't aimed at seasonal, unskilled field work and the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme would not be affected.

Lees-Galloway said the new approach would better reflect skill shortages in regions and provide temporary migrants with a more accurate idea of regional opportunities.

Kerslake said Marlborough businesses across the board were having difficulties hiring staff.

'There's a shortage of hospitality staff. The tourism industry has been growing here as well,' Kerslake said. 'Building and construction. Most people know there's a shortage of builders.'

A global shortage of diesel mechanics had Marlborough businesses constantly on the lookout for mechanical talent; no agricultural industry experience required.

Kerslake said Marlborough needed 1000 new workers every year to replace the people leaving the workforce.

The Government's proposals included sector agreements for industries that relied heavily on migrant labour.

Lees-Galloway said the current one-size-fits-all approach had been failing regions and industries with acute labour needs, while at the same time loading pressure on Auckland's infrastructure.

The system was too complex, included too many different visa options and did not adequately respond to regional or sector differences in the labour market, Lees-Galloway said.

There were too few checks and balances on employers hiring migrants, which had led to increased migrant exploitation. New employer checks would help combat migrant exploitation by lifting the requirements on employers, including tougher tests for high risk employers with poor migrant labour track records and employers looking to hire multiple migrants, he said.

Jobs would be checked to make sure New Zealanders were not available to do them, while migrants would have to meet character and health checks.

Employer-assisted temporary work visas were generally those where an employer could demonstrate through labour market tests that there were no suitable New Zealanders available to do the work.

Around 20 per cent (or 47,000) of the 230,000 temporary work visas issued in 2017-18 were employer-assisted. The rest were issued to people including those on working holidays and family members of New Zealanders and recent migrants.

Temporary visa changes made by the previous government would be reviewed, including stand-down periods for lower skilled migrants and family entitlements for lower-skilled workers.

Consultation on the proposed temporary work visa changes is open until March 18, 2019, with an announcement on final decisions to be made by mid-2019.