In a letter to O’Connor, Southland Federated Farmers sharemilking chair Jason Herrick invited the two ministers to the province to give farmers and other sectors feedback as to why the Government refuses to allow more migrants into New Zealand to ease labour shortages.
The letter is the second written by Herrick to O’Connor in under a month outlining possible human and animal welfare consequences if staffing shortages are not addressed.
“With calving fast approaching, we are losing valuable time to get this issue sorted and as I mentioned in my previous letter, if you do not get this issue to the forefront of the pile, the Government will have to accept the consequences to human wellbeing and animal welfare because of our voices continually being ignored,” Herrick said.
He says there must be a major reason why human and animal welfare concerns are not being taken seriously.
“I believe the people have a right to hear first-hand the reasons why we are in this situation, and to not keep hearing it’s covid-19’s fault,” he said.
“It is believed the Agriculture Minister is supposed to have the rural sector’s best interests at heart, but it is hard to see that in this instance.”
The letter comes after Federated Farmers began a letter writing campaign, asking farmers across NZ to write to the Government to explain the effect that staffing shortages are having on their business.
Herrick says farmers had told him migrant staff were now leaving NZ for other countries where they and their families had a more certain future due to government immigration policy.
“It is time the Government recognised this is becoming a dire situation and I implore you to put a major emphasis on this,” he said.
He says it was a wider issue than just the farming industry.
“Other sectors rely on our migrant employees’ partners and family members to fill roles within their sectors, such as rest homes, retail and health sector,” he said.
