New Zealand tightens immigration rules in 'Kiwi-first' crackdown

[webfact]

New Zealand tightens immigration rules in 'Kiwi-first' crackdown

By Charlotte Greenfield

REUTERS

 

Queenstown airport in New Zealand March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Henning Gloystein

 

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand said on Wednesday it will tighten access to its skilled work visas, just a day after the United States and neighbouring Australia announced similar restrictions on immigration.

 

New Zealand's immigration minister said he was taking a "Kiwis-first approach to immigration", echoing Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and U.S. President Donald Trump in announcing policies to ensure jobs for Australians and Americans.

 

Migration has become a hot topic in the lead up to New Zealand's Sept. 23 general election.

 

"These changes are designed to strike the right balance ... and encourage employers to take on more Kiwis and invest in the training to upskill them," immigration minister Michael Woodhouse said in a statement, using the colloquial term for New Zealand citizens.

 

The changes to be introduced later this year include introducing a minimum income requirement, making it more difficult for family members to join visa holders and limiting the amount of time seasonal workers are allowed to stay in New Zealand.

 

A boom in new arrivals has helped the New Zealand economy race along with some of the strongest gross domestic product growth in the developed world.

 

But opposition parties and the central bank have called for a review of current policies, citing low wages growth and soaring house prices spurred by the influx.

 

Many sectors, such as technology and construction suffer from a severe shortage of workers and companies in these areas were recruiting many of their workers from offshore.

 

Under the changes, employers would need to provide a minimum income of NZ$49,000 ($34,530.30) for anyone entering on a prioritised "skilled". Anyone earning more than NZ$73,000 would be classed as highly skilled.

 

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield. Editing by Jane Wardell and Michael Perry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-19

[impulse]

22 minutes ago, webfact said:

Many sectors, such as technology and construction suffer from a severe shortage of workers and companies in these areas were recruiting many of their workers from offshore.

 

Funny how native "labor shortages" disappear when a decent wage is on offer.  

 

I recall a "nursing shortage" in California, only to learn the wages were the same as they were in Texas, where the cost of housing was a tiny fraction of what it was in CA.   Strangely, Texas had no such shortage.  Let's see, live in a studio apartment, or a 3 bedroom house- working the same job.  Decisions, decisions.

 

Kudos to these 3 governments for demanding that businesses take care of the natives instead of importing cheap labor.  Maybe the start of equalizing the great -and ever widening- divide between the haves and the have-nots (but I doubt it).

Edited April 19, 2017 by impulse

[BEVUP]

I'll keep it short Their joking 

Must be easy to get into NZ & why would the Kiwis stay in their own country (& they dont) for wages like that 

Their getting double the wage in Auss at the Citizens cost

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

6 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Funny how native "labor shortages" disappear when a decent wage is on offer.  

 

I recall a "nursing shortage" in California, only to learn the wages were the same as they were in Texas, where the cost of housing was a tiny fraction of what it was in CA.   Strangely, Texas had no such shortage.  Let's see, live in a studio apartment, or a 3 bedroom house- working the same job.  Decisions, decisions.

 

Kudos to these 3 governments for demanding that businesses take care of the natives instead of importing cheap labor.  Maybe the start of equalizing the great -and ever widening- divide between the haves and the have-nots (but I doubt it).

It is many times not due to cheap labour that locals don't get jobs. My ex and daughter immigrated to NZ 5 years back. The level of laziness among certain of the youth is astounding. There is very little ambition and the mind set that government will take care of them. Of the children she went to school with the immigrants are the ones performing the best at university, the locals are off to gap years that's turned into an allergy to study and work. Yes get the correct immigrants in but also kick the backsides of some locals.

[williamgeorgeallen]

6 hours ago, BEVUP said:

I'll keep it short Their joking 

Must be easy to get into NZ & why would the Kiwis stay in their own country (& they dont) for wages like that 

Their getting double the wage in Auss at the Citizens cost

i just moved back to nz. many i know from around the world are doing the same. nz economy is cranking. it is reported to be growing at over 3% per year which is almost as good as the thai economy. after being away for 20 years it is great to see things going so well mostly due to dairy farming and tourism. much of the immigration is philipino. they are hard working and speak english, i hope they are not making it harder on them to get into the country as they are an asset doing jobs us kiwis would prefer not to do.

[Roadman]

10 minutes ago, SOUTHERNSTAR said:

It is many times not due to cheap labour that locals don't get jobs. My ex and daughter immigrated to NZ 5 years back. The level of laziness among certain of the youth is astounding. There is very little ambition and the mind set that government will take care of them. Of the children she went to school with the immigrants are the ones performing the best at university, the locals are off to gap years that's turned into an allergy to study and work. Yes get the correct immigrants in but also kick the backsides of some locals.

Well said and agree with when my partner and daughters came here they have no trouble picking and choosing for work. Admittedly in minimum wage starting positions but developing their work experience to move into higher paying positions.

It is also worse than that as here in the Bay of Plenty the large seasonal employers dont want Kiwi youth as they get a first pay and are away boozed and stoned and dont turn up for work and are abusive and ignorant towards the migrant and seasonal visa workers who turn up and get work done. Then the constant one gets from the government reliant left is the wages are crap which fails to recognise that minimum wage for a youth at close to $16 is a solid starting point to start getting a work culture. NZ  has a major drug and also welfare dependency problem and also as you point out bloody laziness and honestly just straight out no idea what so ever stupidity that is at the core of youth unemployment. No wonder we are bringing in so many immigrants. 

 

That aside these immigration tightening rules are window dressing only and will do absolutely nothing to slow the huge immigration numbers into NZ which is at 70k per year and still increasing month of month in spite of even stronger rule tightening last year. To put it into scale NZ immigration is three times that of Britian by population percentages. And the Brits voted for Brexit to resolve the issue for them. NZs issue with infrastructure needs is three time what Britian was dealing with and they all want to live in Orcland. All this is going to do is see employers increase wages up to the levels stated to bring in the same immigrants numbers or pay that higher stated wage to recruit from, and move onto work visas the overseas visa students coming out of our varsities. Reality is the government is in a no win as employers are screaming out for workers in a strong economy and on the other side Joe Citizen who isnt on the property market is screaming off some out of date 1960s hymn sheet that this is not NZ the way we grew up. Will be an interesting election this year with immigration right at the fore front in spite of the strong economic current governance. 

[GreasyFingers]

8 hours ago, BEVUP said:

I'll keep it short Their joking 

Must be easy to get into NZ & why would the Kiwis stay in their own country (& they dont) for wages like that 

Their getting double the wage in Auss at the Citizens cost

Can you please pay them to go back home and first on the list would be Quade Cooper.

[natway09]

Hate to say it but the booming dairy farming is ruining our rivers in NZ

[TheGhostWithin]

Many Kiwis stay in New Zealand, because unlike when an Australian comes here and has reciprocal rights and access to healthcare and the student funding system, Kiwis are treated as second class citizens in a pro-employer country.

 

I work as a railway network controller, and would get a 40% pay increase working for most employers in Australia. But I would have to settle into an environment obsessed with "full time casual" contracts, where employees can be sent down the road virtually without justification (yes, I have seen it with my entire family who moved to Australia 6 years ago. Mother is a doctor, and father works in the mines - he gets it the worst).

 

The systems are different, each has their advantages and disadvantages. And yes, there are huge numbers of lazy Kiwis - but huge numbers of lazy Aussies as well.

[elgordo38]

10 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Funny how native "labor shortages" disappear when a decent wage is on offer.  

 

I recall a "nursing shortage" in California, only to learn the wages were the same as they were in Texas, where the cost of housing was a tiny fraction of what it was in CA.   Strangely, Texas had no such shortage.  Let's see, live in a studio apartment, or a 3 bedroom house- working the same job.  Decisions, decisions.

 

Kudos to these 3 governments for demanding that businesses take care of the natives instead of importing cheap labor.  Maybe the start of equalizing the great -and ever widening- divide between the haves and the have-nots (but I doubt it).

I am having a great day I can agree with what a politician is doing. Election day is coming on fast I imagine that gave them a bit of a mental boot sorry boost. Approaching election days always brings out the best in politicians. That's when they are at their zenith. That burst of color just before sunset. 

[BEVUP]

2 hours ago, GreasyFingers said:

Can you please pay them to go back home and first on the list would be Quade Cooper.

Unfortunately the gov usually leaves me short of funds due to not being employed as a citizen & then i would lose the court battle due to all the good sayers

[BEVUP]

1 hour ago, TheGhostWithin said:

Many Kiwis stay in New Zealand, because unlike when an Australian comes here and has reciprocal rights and access to healthcare and the student funding system, Kiwis are treated as second class citizens in a pro-employer country.

 

I work as a railway network controller, and would get a 40% pay increase working for most employers in Australia. But I would have to settle into an environment obsessed with "full time casual" contracts, where employees can be sent down the road virtually without justification (yes, I have seen it with my entire family who moved to Australia 6 years ago. Mother is a doctor, and father works in the mines - he gets it the worst).

 

The systems are different, each has their advantages and disadvantages. And yes, there are huge numbers of lazy Kiwis - but huge numbers of lazy Aussies as well.

You obviously dont know many kiwis AUssie construction workers are constantly fighting against them for construction jobs

[mstevens]

18 hours ago, BEVUP said:

I'll keep it short Their joking 

Must be easy to get into NZ & why would the Kiwis stay in their own country (& they dont) for wages like that 

Their getting double the wage in Auss at the Citizens cost

Not any more.  Now more Aussies move to New Zealand than Kiwis move to Australia.

[thaibeachlovers]

22 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Funny how native "labor shortages" disappear when a decent wage is on offer.  

 

I recall a "nursing shortage" in California, only to learn the wages were the same as they were in Texas, where the cost of housing was a tiny fraction of what it was in CA.   Strangely, Texas had no such shortage.  Let's see, live in a studio apartment, or a 3 bedroom house- working the same job.  Decisions, decisions.

 

Kudos to these 3 governments for demanding that businesses take care of the natives instead of importing cheap labor.  Maybe the start of equalizing the great -and ever widening- divide between the haves and the have-nots (but I doubt it).

Unfortunately, I don't know that just tightening up on work visas will make any difference. 70,000 people immigrated to NZ last year, far beyond the needs of the work force.

[BEVUP]

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

Unfortunately, I don't know that just tightening up on work visas will make any difference. 70,000 people immigrated to NZ last year, far beyond the needs of the work force.

But a 1000 000 left to work in Auss

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, BEVUP said:

But a 1000 000 left to work in Auss

Are you sure about that? Since Aussie tightened up on the welfare etc I believe more NZers are returning to NZ than leaving.

Pity, as there are too many people in NZ now and it's ruining the place.

[impulse]

13 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Unfortunately, I don't know that just tightening up on work visas will make any difference. 70,000 people immigrated to NZ last year, far beyond the needs of the work force.

 

I think it will for high skilled workers.  I doubt the majority of those immigrants were engineers, scientists, code jockeys or others- whose salaries stagnate when companies can import 3rd world graduates instead of raising the natives' salaries to incent more kids to get the education.   Why bother spending $200K on a degree when you'll come out competing for your NZ job with someone from a village in India or China?

Edited April 20, 2017 by impulse

[BEVUP]

24 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Are you sure about that? Since Aussie tightened up on the welfare etc I believe more NZers are returning to NZ than leaving.

Pity, as there are too many people in NZ now and it's ruining the place.

thats because the jobs are drying up in Auss 

[impulse]

17 hours ago, SOUTHERNSTAR said:

It is many times not due to cheap labour that locals don't get jobs. My ex and daughter immigrated to NZ 5 years back. The level of laziness among certain of the youth is astounding. There is very little ambition and the mind set that government will take care of them. Of the children she went to school with the immigrants are the ones performing the best at university, the locals are off to gap years that's turned into an allergy to study and work. Yes get the correct immigrants in but also kick the backsides of some locals.

 

That's a good point, and a big problem.  But I believe (my belief- may be wrong) that quite a bit of the laziness and general malcontent is a result of seeing their futures being eroded away as the 1% grabs more and more of the wealth, leaving kids looking forward to low paying, dead end jobs for their foreseeable future, if not their entire lives.  Keeping in mind, of course, that my foreseeable future horizon was quite short when I was that age- and a year of eating entry level poop looked like a lifetime to me.

 

I've seen kids that looked like absolute wastes of human flesh perk up and become amazing people and great employees when they were treated as valued team members instead of so much fodder for the corporate machines.    Maybe if working (minus the expenses involved in dressing, commuting and showing up) actually payed significantly better than sitting around on the dole, fewer kids would laze around.  Obviously, that goes beyond just a salary, but that's how the rich keep score, so why wouldn't they think it's important to the rest of us?

 

BTW- I also blame TV and the media for setting unrealistic lifestyle expectations to sell more products, but that's a whole different thread.

Edited April 20, 2017 by impulse

[thaibeachlovers]

15 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

That's a good point, and a big problem.  But I believe (my belief- may be wrong) that quite a bit of the laziness and general malcontent is a result of seeing their futures being eroded away as the 1% grabs more and more of the wealth, leaving kids looking forward to low paying, dead end jobs for their foreseeable future, if not their entire lives.  Keeping in mind, of course, that my foreseeable future horizon was quite short when I was that age- and a year of eating entry level poop looked like a lifetime to me.

 

I've seen kids that looked like absolute wastes of human flesh perk up and become amazing people and great employees when they were treated as valued team members instead of so much fodder for the corporate machines.    Maybe if working (minus the expenses involved in dressing, commuting and showing up) actually payed significantly better than sitting around on the dole, fewer kids would laze around.  Obviously, that goes beyond just a salary, but that's how the rich keep score, so why wouldn't they think it's important to the rest of us?

 

BTW- I also blame TV and the media for setting unrealistic lifestyle expectations to sell more products, but that's a whole different thread.

Agree completely.

IMO the bureaucrats have taken over and are ruining the country with absolutely stupid rules and regulations, while the politicians under the thankfully departed Key are only concerned with the rich, while the poor can go hang themselves.

I could come up with pages of examples of how bureaucracy is ruining the country, but anyone living in NZ with half a brain cell knows what is going on.

The sad thing is that while I and my friends can agree that NZ is going in a bad direction, we know of nothing that can change it. Once they changed the voting to PR, IMO it was all over for a chance to make a difference at the ballot box.