Fit for purpose

Submissions have closed on the Government’s review of the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme. In the week before submissions closed, I was part of a cross [political] party delegation – led by Deputy Prime Minister, Carmel Sepuloni – to the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tonga.

The delegation discussed the economies of these Pacific nations, in particular, the role of migrant labour schemes in today’s world.

There are currently nine Pacific nations involved in the RSE scheme. Each of these nations face different internal challenges. That is why they each have different views of the scheme. Some nations want to send more workers while others are worried about a brain drain and social impacts.

The RSE scheme started 16 years ago as part of New Zealand’s supportive role in the Pacific. While the scheme assists in fulfilling New Zealand’s seasonal labour needs, it is also equally beneficial to the Pacific through the income that is injected into the Pacific economies and the skill development opportunities not readily available in the Pacific. The money RSE workers earn and the skills they learn while temporarily in New Zealand enable them to build community facilities and develop small businesses that are of immense benefit to numerous Pacific communities.

However, the RSE scheme also poses challenges. I’ve mentioned the brain drain but there are also social challenges that need to be addressed. This brings me back to the Government’s review of the scheme, and our concerns about what’s at stake if the review is rushed and doesn’t address the needs of each party involved in the scheme.

The mounting costs associated with being an accredited RSE scheme employer and the recent minimum wage increase could make the scheme an unviable labour option for growers. Many will have no choice but to curtail their involvement, and some may cease their growing operations altogether.

If that happens, everyone will lose. Pacific workers will go elsewhere because they can and competition for labour is fierce, worldwide; while our industry will lose a skilled and valued part of its workforce at a time when it needs it the most, as our industry recovers from Covid and various adverse weather events.

Fit for purpose

Policy must be fit for purpose. HortNZ spends an incredible amount of time and effort advocating for growing in New Zealand, and trying to ensure that new policy does not create perverse outcomes.

Back in the country last week, I listened to a senior Government official describe how they were having to work around a poor policy decision, in an area of great importance to primary production in our country. The official was quite upfront about what they were having to do and those in the audience were astounded by the situation, asking ‘why not just change the law?’. To which the official replied, ‘it’s very hard to change the law’, which is why, if horticulture is to thrive again, we need to ensure that policy is right first time, because the lost opportunity cost is far, far too great.