The immigration reset
Borders are open. Yesterday’s announcement also came with changes to immigration designed to attract highly-skilled workers to New Zealand
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Thursday, May 12, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: supermarket price freeze; investigation to be opened into Gloriavale; national book award winners; but first, immigation reset finally here.
Kris Faafoi announces immigration changes (Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi)
Borders will open, pre-departure tests to go
As expected, the government announced yesterday that the final phase of border reopening will commence from 11.59pm on July 31. Pre-departure tests are on their way out with the prime minister saying they’re confident the tests will be removed by July 31. Justin Tighe-Umbers, executive director of the Board of Airline Representatives of New Zealand, says his members want pre-departure testing gone as soon as possible. The berths are also open for cruise ships to return.
Welcome mat out for highly-skilled migrants
The government also announced changes to our immigration system that have been foreshadowed for a while and billed as a “reset”. When asked who we were aiming to attract to New Zealand at the press conference yesterday, immigration minister Kris Faafoi was unequivocal: “highly-skilled,” he said. To that end, they have introduced “The Green List”, which is a list of highly-skilled jobs that enable fast-tracked residence pathways. There are two categories though – one includes vets, doctors, engineers and ICT professionals, who can apply for work visas from July 4, and residence visas from September. The other includes professions like nursing, midwifery and teaching, where migrants can apply for residency after two years. Nurses and midwives have labelled the distinction “sexist”.
Two-tier immigration system?
The Green party has criticised the changes saying “the government is effectively entrenching a two-tier immigration system.” Matthew Scott from Newsroom asks where that leaves 54,000 migrants in New Zealand on temporary visas who currently earn less than the wage cap. National's immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford said the broad brush approach was lazy. "They could be far more nuanced and actually have fair wage rates per industry, per region,” she said. “I think it's based on an unfair assumption that migrant workers drive down wages which, by the way, the Productivity Commission said actually doesn't happen." That's based on a November 2021 report into immigration from the commission that noted “overall, New Zealand studies find very minor and mostly positive impacts on the average earnings and employment of local workers.” Dileepa Fonseka had an excellent column yesterday on the way immigration has been used as a scapegoat.
International education sector no longer a “backdoor to residency”
There are also changes for the international education sector. Students in non-degree level courses won’t be able to work in New Zealand after graduating unless they apply to fill a skills gap. Students completing undergraduate degrees will be able to work in New Zealand after finishing their degree, but only for as long as they had been studying in New Zealand. Education minister Chris Hipkins said the sector could no longer be “a backdoor to residency” and that the sector, worth $5b a year before the pandemic, needed to focus on “genuine students”.
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Two supermarkets, both alike in strategy
I use Gaspy to track petrol prices (which are heading towards $3p/l again). I now feel like I need, but do not want, an app for comparing the cost of basic food items. After Countdown announced a “price freeze” on 500 essential items over winter, including 117 herbs and spices, Foodstuffs (which includes New World, Pak'nSave and Four Square) has announced its own price freeze. It’s cutting prices by an average of 10% on more than 110 everyday items. I’d say a lot of people might be feeling like the ongoing price and commentary ping pong is a plague on all our houses and they’d just like some certainty. The government is due to give its response to the commerce commission’s report on supermarkets at the end of the month. Tom Pullar-Strecker has a rundown on likely options.
Investigation opened into Gloriavale
Following a decision by the Employment Court on Tuesday – in a case brought by three former Gloriavale members – Charities Services has opened a new investigation into the charitable status of the West Coast community. The decision found that the members, who’d been working up to 70 hours a week, were not volunteers. A previous investigation by the Labour Inspectorate in 2021 had found they were not employees and were therefore not protected by New Zealand employment law. Charities Services declined to investigate the community in 2020 after 35 members who had left the community sent a letter alleging physical, emotional and spiritual abuse.
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“Proper good, dead good.”
That was how Rob Kidd, a Lancastrian and convenor of judges for the fiction prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, described the fiction shortlist and winner’s book, respectively. The awards were held last night in Auckland. Whiti Hereaka’s Kurangaituku won the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction. Vincent O'Malley won the general non-fiction category for Voices from the New Zealand Wars. Claire Regnault, won the illustrated non-fiction award for Dressed and Joanna Preston took out the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry for Tumble. The Spinoff books editor, Catherine Woulfe has all the details here and a plea to generously-minded lovers of books.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz
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Former Black Cap captain set to be named England men's test coach
RNZ has picked up a report from the BBC this morning that Brendon McCullum, currently coach of the Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders, has agreed to the role and an announcement could come this week. McCullum retired from playing in 2019 and has never coached in first-class cricket before. McCullum could be in the job for England's test against New Zealand at Lord's on June 2.
New Zealand Music Month
Naomii Seah visits a man who is 3D printing guitars, drums and other instruments.
