10. Question No. 10—ImmigrationERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of ImmigrationQuestion No. 10—Immigration10. ERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of Immigration: Why are nurses on a two-year Work to Residence pathway when multimedia specialists specialising in game development are on the Fast Tracked Straight to Residence" pathway and when will the immigration instructions containing the criteria for the Green List Work to Residence pathway be released?Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Immigration) (remote): In response to the first part of the question the rationale for nurses being on a two-year work-to-residency pathway has been well traversed in the House this week and in previous weeks. For the first time in recent history our Government has put nurses in hospitals on the fast track to residency or asking as a part of that that there is a commitment to work as a nurse for up to two years and then residency is achieved. We've set up our immigration system for long-term sustainability. The immigration rebalance is about striking an appropriate balance to meet New Zealand's workforce needs across all sectors. In response to the member's second question the straight-to-residence pathway will be available for migrant workers from September 2022. Green List immigration instructions will be available from approximately the end of July.Hon Michael Woodhouse: I raise a point or order Mr Speaker. The first part of the primary question in my view wasn't addressed because the Minister simply re-articulated the criteria for nurses. The part of the question asks why is that criteria for nurses and not for multimedia specialists—and that bit wasn't addressed.SPEAKER: The question is whether the question was addressed and it certainly was.Erica Stanford: Can the Minister explain why nurses are on a two-year wait-to-residence to keep them nursing and yet there is no requirement for doctors to work as doctors for two years on a work-to-residence pathway.Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I'm very happy to elucidate for the member because she and her colleagues and others—quite rightly—have pointed out that there is a need to supplement the nursing workforce in New Zealand. As such and as I covered in my primary question we think it's a reasonable and rational approach to say to those nurses who might seek residency in New Zealand that we would require that they work in that profession for that period of time to give New Zealand that particular benefit. I think the member shouldn't also undersell what a significant step forward it is to provide residency after just two years through a very very simple process—much simpler than most other countries and certainly much simpler than was previously in place including under the previous Government.Erica Stanford: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I don't believe that he addressed the question.SPEAKER: Well it's a pretty simple question and it was around "why this?" and the answer was almost certainly far too long but the beginning of it was because the member and her party asked him to.Erica Stanford: Who has the more attractive immigration policy for nurses: Australia who has an immediate residence pathway with policy criteria on their website; or Immigration New Zealand with a two-year wait to apply for residence and a website that six weeks after the policy announcement still reads "we will provide more detail on this residence pathway"?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: As I've outlined in previous answers immigration instructions will be confirmed by approximately the next month. But I would caution the member against over-simplifying the differences between different countries' immigration regimes—she did get pulled up by Jack Tame about that over the weekend when she got details wrong. For example in New Zealand there's an age limit of 55 under this pathway; it's only 45 in Australia.Erica Stanford: How many migrant nurses could we have attracted if the Government had released the detailed Green List residency visa criteria in the 10 weeks from the policy to next month?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: That's a purely hypothetical question.Erica Stanford: What responsibility does he take for this Government's inability to prioritise nurses on a fast-track immediate residence pathway resulting in our hospitals being dangerously under staffed?SPEAKER: Order! Does the member have another supplementary?"