For the first time ever, not all of the nation’s grape vines were pruned this year as the industry grapples with an ongoing labour shortage.
Wine NZ chief executive Philip Gregan is expecting another tight year for labour availability and fears a hit to grape yields from the unpruned vines, which was an issue on Marlborough and Central Otago vineyards.
The Government has approved in principle quarantine-free access for up to 14,400 workers from Vanuatu, Tonga and Samoa under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme (RSE), but Gregan can’t say if it will meet the horticulture sector’s needs.
“In all probability it will be another tight year,” Gregan said.
“There are not the same number of backpackers in the country, which has historically been an important labour resource and unemployment is very low, so there are not a lot of NZers.”
A HortNZ spokesperson says the wider industry is in talks with the Government about quarantine-free travel for RSE workers, which could begin this month.
“The Governments of these Pacific countries need to agree to this too, and so the flights can only start when all of the governments reach agreement,” the spokesperson said.
September arrivals were to go through MIQ facilities but will now be quarantine-free as the workers are coming from covid-free countries.
Once here, they will have to adhere to protocols developed by the Ministry of Health, but the spokesperson says despite these hurdles, it will be positive for the Pacific economies involved.
Global competition for primary sector workers has become more hotly contested with the Australian Federal Government announcing that from September 30 it is introducing an Ag Visa.
This allows the primary sector to recruit an uncapped number of low to highly-skilled workers from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries and provided they commit to the sector and to live in rural areas, there is a pathway to residency.
The project applies to farm, meat, fisheries and forestry workers. But while it is unclear how many workers it hopes to attract, a report out of Victoria expects 3000 Pacific Islanders will work in the state’s primary sector this season.
The ABC reports that some of the estimated 10,000 backpackers currently stranded in NZ could relocate to Australia once the borders reopen, providing a labour boost and made possible through the Australian Government’s Covid-19 Visa.
This visa allows people who have worked in specific areas that are short of workers to get multi-year extensions to work.
