New Zealand issued an apology to Pacific nations for not consulting them regarding modifications to income and accommodation policies affecting Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSE), Immigration Minister Erica Stanford confirms.
Towards the end of last year, several modifications were made to the RSE scheme. These changes involved removing the freeze on accommodation cost increases and revising the application of the 10% above minimum wage requirement, making it applicable only to experienced workers.
During a discussion with the Education and Workforce Committee, Stanford acknowledged that the government had failed to engage with the Pacific labour-sending countries whose citizens would be impacted by the recent changes.
“My view at the time was that that had been consulted on, and it hadn’t. We have said to the high commissioners that we have apologised for that, and it won’t happen again.”
The apology was issued via the diplomats of those countries.
According to Labour MP Phil Twyford, the lack of consultation was “pretty poor form” and a “gross oversight.”
“To not even have the good grace to consult properly with those labour-sending countries, I think it’s pretty poor form,” he said.
“These people are leaving their spouses and children, leaving their villages and communities to spend many months in a foreign country working so they can send money back to their families at considerable sacrifice.”
“This shouldn’t be a one-way street. New Zealand doesn’t get to dictate the terms to these countries; they’re sovereign countries, and they’re participating in a scheme that is supposed to be delivering benefits to both sides.”
The Pacific nations that qualify for the RSE scheme include Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Tuvalu.