Opinion: The next steps in our plan to speed up New Zealand’s economic growth
Last week the Government announced a major package of reforms to address the immediate skill shortages in New Zealand and speed up our economic growth.
New Zealand’s border will fully reopen to tourists and visa holders on 31 July, two months earlier than planned. This builds on our previous reconnecting work and will be welcome news for businesses across Hawke’s Bay, providing a further boost for our local economy.
The global disruptions caused by COVID gave us an opportunity to get smart about immigration.
We’ve taken advantage of this opportunity to speed up New Zealand’s recovery and address long-term challenges.
Our new rebalanced immigration settings will help businesses access the key skills they need, while also ensuring that wages and working conditions are improved for everyone in New Zealand.
To address immediate skills shortages in New Zealand, we’re creating a new streamlined immigration pathway for hard-to-fill jobs. The new Green List, which includes roles like nurses, GPs, secondary school teachers, engineers, and tech workers, will make it easier to attract these much-needed workers to New Zealand.
Our immigration system will be simpler and smarter, reducing categories, bringing more online accessibility and streamlining application processes for businesses.
To keep the skills we need within the country, we’ve announced that around 20,000 visa holders with visas expiring before 2023 are being granted either a six-month extension or a new two-year visa with open work conditions, so their employers won’t be affected by these changes.
We’re also continuing to roll out our plan to grow skills at home, to make sure we have the skilled workforce we need for the future.
We’ve already seen more than 190,000 New Zealanders taking up our free trades training and apprenticeships. Earlier this week, we also announced an extension to the Apprenticeship Boost scheme which will see a further 38,000 Kiwis supported into a trade.
This package is designed to address the urgent skills shortages created by COVID while also putting our immigration settings on a better and more sustainable footing.
Employers will have greater access to skilled workers to address workforce need. Our new reopening dates will see families and friends reunite, international students return, and provide a much-needed boost to our tourism and events sectors.
As our economy continues to gain momentum, we’ll keep taking full advantage of opportunities to secure New Zealand’s future, while also responding to the most pressing issues in front of us.
Anna Lorck is the MP for Tukituki.
The opinions expressed in this opinion piece are the writer's and not that of Hawke's Bay App.
