Leading horticulture figure Jerf van Beek stood down in wake of inquiry into migrant worker exploitation

Sunday, 30 August 2020

Jerf van Beek stood down from his role with Horticulture New Zealand.

An architect of the seasonal worker scheme that brings Pacific Island people into the country to pick fruit has been stood down from a key role with Horticulture New Zealand after allegations a collective he founded mistreated workers.

Jerf van Beek, a leading figure in the Hawke’s Bay horticulture community and also a Hawke’s Bay regional councillor, has been stood down by Hort NZ as its national seasonal labour co-ordinator.

Hort NZ chief executive Mike Chapman said there was no suggestion van Beek was involved in the alleged mistreatment of workers, but he had asked him to step aside while the claims were being investigated because he had a conflict of interest.

Van Beek is a founder and former chairman of Pick Hawke’s Bay, a collective of growers that facilitates Pacific labour to orchards in the region.

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Jerf van Beek says the allegations against a Pick Hawke's Bay manager haven't been proven.

He was instrumental is establishing the recognised seasonal labour (RSE) scheme, which brings more than 14,000 workers from various Pacific Islands to New Zealand each year, and owns an accommodation facility where many of the workers stay.

In July a Newsroom investigation revealed that Solomon Island workers on the (RSE) scheme, unemployed but unable to go home because of the Covid pandemic, alleged they were the victims of intimidation by a Pick Hawke’s Bay manager.

In a tape recording obtained by Newsroom, manager Anthony Rarere can be heard threatening to withhold flights home from his employees, report them to Immigration New Zealand, and hold back cash payments.

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment says its integrity unit is in the process of finalising an investigation into the workers’ claims.

Van Beek told Stuff they were only allegations at this stage.

“There’s a tape recording … but it doesn't mean that actually the allegations stand up. Just because there is an audio doesn't mean those allegations stand up. We don't know the whole file of what was being said.”

Some seasonal workers from Vanuatu here on a Government scheme want to return home to their villages which were destroyed by a cyclone in April.

The workers involved were flown home soon after raising their concerns.

The Newsroom investigation also revealed that Anthony Rarere’s father, George Rarere, left his role heading the RSE scheme at the MBIE last year as an investigation was looking into why so many RSE workers were going to Hawke’s Bay employers and not elsewhere.

Chapman said van Beek was stood down while the workers’ claims were being investigated.

“Jerf is part of the Pick Hawke’s Bay team and is on the executive. He’s done nothing, but he can’t be involved in both the RSE operation for Hort NZ and be dealing with the issues at Pick Hawke’s Bay, it’s as simple as that.

“The RSE scheme is very important to us, and we work to make sure it’s of the highest ethical standards possible.”

Horticulture industry sources told Stuff they had been concerned about a conflict between van Beek’s roles for a long time.

“Why did Mike Chapman employ him and continue to employ him with full knowledge of his conflicts of interest?” one said.

Chapman said he didn’t see a problem. “Any conflict was being managed by Jerf and myself, restricting his activities in Hawke’s Bay.”

Van Beek, a Twyford cherry grower elected to the regional council last year on a water management platform, said: “They asked me to stand down and that’s all I'm really going to say about it.”

He said he’d “given the best years of my life” to the RSE scheme.

“I’ve worked tirelessly for … Pacific Island workers. When I started my role as national co-ordinator for seasonal labour we had no Pacific Island workers coming to New Zealand. In that time we’ve gone from zero to 14,400 RSE workers.

“I’ve seen the wealth and the knowledge that it has brought to the Pacific community and individuals. I pride myself on that.”

Van Beek said the negative publicity about the Solomon Island workers was putting their future employment at risk, and it could “ruin” small “mum and pop” employers who relied on them.

“We know we’ve got at risk the possibility of 500 RSE workers … who are not able to come and work for New Zealand, not due to Covid, but due to some allegations of workers that haven't been substantially proven. It sounds like the media continuously wants to beat this up.”