Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse have raised the number of people allowed on the Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme for 2016-17 from 9500 to 10,500.
Woodhouse said the horticulture and viticulture industry was NZ’s fourth largest export industry, producing almost $5 billion in exports.
“The industry has forecast an additional 2500 workers will be needed for the upcoming season.
“The increase of 1000 RSE workers shows the Government is committed to enabling the industry to continue to grow and maximise export returns while ensuring jobs aren’t being taken from New Zealanders.”
The ministers said the increase was made on the understanding the industry continued to maximise opportunities for New Zealanders, particularly in regions with relatively high unemployment.
Tolley said significant progress had already been made on employing New Zealanders in the industry.
“Around 500 beneficiaries have already taken part in the NZ Seasonal Work Scheme and a significant number have not gone back on a benefit,” Tolley said.
“In 2015, MSD placed over 4000 people in the agriculture industry across NZ, which includes the horticulture and viticulture industries.
“HortNZ figures show that this sector employs around 60,000 people annually.
“To build on this, the Ministry of Social Development is developing new initiatives with employers and other stakeholders to further increase the number of New Zealanders working in the industry,” she said.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Mike Chaopman said the increase brought some welcome relief to the growing horticulture industry.
"While the horticulture industry is strongly focused on getting New Zealanders into permanent work, at harvest time it is essential to have extra hands to get crops out of the fields and onto the consumers’ plates quickly.
"The RSE scheme celebrates 10 years next year and it is a win-win initiative that gives horticulture and viticulture a critical workforce at its busiest time while allowing workers from mostly the Pacific Islands to gain invaluable experience and the chance of being able to send money back to their communities at home.
"Some of our growers have had the same workers coming for the duration of the RSE scheme and they have close bonds. This is a fantastic scheme and it is not taking away any local jobs.
"HortNZ has a number of programmes to get New Zealanders into permanent work and the RSE is separate to that. In fact, by handling the harvest, RSE has allowed the horticulture industry to grow and employ more NZ workers in permanent roles."
The horticulture and viticulture industry aimed to increase exports to $10 billion by 2020. Seasonal workers from the Pacific were an important part of a sector that employed about 60,000 New Zealanders.
RSE workers came from the eligible Pacific countries of Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea, Nauru and Fiji.
