Immigration rebalance could change small town New Zealand

There are fears rural communities in New Zealand may struggle to attract young families and staff essential jobs when Government stops issuing partnership work visas from December. Louisa Steyl reports.

Meet the Bothas: a young South African couple who have settled in Nightcaps– a town of around three hundred people – where they both work in essential roles.

Donivan Botha works on a nearby farm and his wife Carla is a home based educator. Both sectors are desperately understaffed; particularly in regions like Southland.

The couple contribute to their small, rural community, with Donivan playing for a local rugby club at weekends, and they’re raising a young family with a second child on the way.

But they wouldn’t have shifted here if they couldn’t make the move together.

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From December, spouses of temporary migrant workers must qualify for an Accredited Employer Work Visa in their own right if they want to live and work in New Zealand, unless the main applicant works in a Green List occupation or earns twice the median wage.

This means that employers who want to hire them must apply for accreditation and pay an accreditation fee – the cost of which varies depending on how many migrants they need to hire, but starts at $740.

This poses a challenge for rural towns like Nightcaps, where grocery stores and dairies have traditionally been staffed by the spouses of migrants who come to work in these communities.

Carla Botha, for example, worked in a casual role on a farm before training to be an early childhood educator.

MBIE immigration policy manager Andrew Craig said “it doesn’t make sense to take care with recruiting for genuine skill shortages for the primary applicant if we are going to allow a ‘plus one’ with much looser requirements to join them.”

But employers say it would be an onerous burden to go through the accreditation and visa application process – which can take up to 44 days – for a casual labour force.

In Lumsden, with a population of around 500 people, Four Square owner Greg Tither said about 50 per cent of his workers are the spouses of farmworkers or teachers.

“It seems like a hard, drawn out process to put on businesses,” he said of the immigration changes.

Talking generally to supermarkets throughout the country, many were short-staffed, Tither said and in small communities, spouses helped filled the workforce gaps.

Wairio dairy farmer and business owner Chris Adams said under the Accredited Employer Work Visa, employers had to first advertise positions locally before Immigration New Zealand would consider granting a work visa.

But with an unemployment rate of just 2.7% in Southland, there simply were no locals to employ, he said.

“I’d employ a Kiwi if I could, because it’s a whole lot less paperwork.”

While he was happy to go through the accreditation processes and pay above average wages, Adams was frustrated that he had to get separate accreditation for each of his businesses, and that he had to go through the tedious process of proving there were no Kiwis to employ for the job.

“Government should say, once you’re accredited, we’ll step out. Just get rid of all that [red tape] so we can get people working,” he said.

Owner operators were facing burnout while they struggled to find staff, he said.

In general, it was better for small towns to hire families rather than individuals, Adams said.

Couples and families supported communities, helped keep clubs going, stayed in the area longer and generally had better wellbeing when they could stay together, he said.

Under Immigration New Zealand’s Immigration Rebalance plan, most partners of temporary migrant workers will be granted visitors visas from December 2022.

If they qualify for an Accredited Employer Work Visa, they’ll be allowed to work less than 30 hours a week, in recognition of their household responsibilities, but they must earn $27 or more an hour.

Craig said the Government wanted to reduce reliance on lower-paid migrant workers, and to limit migrant workers on employer-assisted visas to roles where there are genuine skill shortages.

Government had consulted with representatives, unions and sector groups, he said, who had contributed to the roles included on the Green List.

“The Immigration Rebalance helps us transition away from a low-wage, low-productivity economy. It will help to lift working conditions for everyone, to improve career pathways for New Zealanders, and to increase businesses’ productivity and wellbeing as part of our plans for the economic recovery,” he said.