Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:606;Page:3773] 
5.  
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Immigration 
: Why is she denying that the New Zealand Immigration Service gave approval for a scheme which allowed young Ukrainians to come to New Zealand and be exploited as low-paid farm workers? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Immigration) 
: 
 Because the New Zealand Immigration Service does not approve work shortage schemes. The New Zealand Immigration Service as in all cases such as this issues approvals in principle to employers to recruit skilled staff where there is an identified labour market shortage. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why is the Minister trying to duck-shove this on to some other department when she knows full well that these workers would never have come to New Zealand without the Immigration Service having approved them which is the content of an  
Otago Daily Times 
 article where she begins in the first paragraph by denying it then about three-quarters of the way through says that the approvals in principle would have been issued to named farmers who were to be the employers by the Immigration Service; and why can she not just tell us the plain unvarnished truth when she is caught out again? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I do not think I have got enough time to do that. I think the member ought to know that since 1997 1003 Ukrainians have been brought to New Zealand on work visas or permits and we have had three complaints. They are complaints—allegations at this stage. They need to be investigated by the appropriate authorities. 
Dave Hereora 
: Are migrant workers entitled to the same protections as all other workers? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: Yes. Migrant workers even those who are working illegally in this country are entitled to the same rights and protections as any other worker in New Zealand in terms of our labour laws and our occupational safety and health laws. The Employment Relations Service which enforces those rights or the Occupational Safety and Health Service which enforces the occupational safety and health rights enforce those rights for migrant workers in the same way as they do for any other worker. The New Zealand Immigration Service does not have a responsibility for enforcing those rights. 
Hon David Carter 
: Has the Minister seen reports in the Christchurch  
Press 
 today that discredit the allegations of Ron Mark MP and the three Ukrainian dairy workers and are we not seeing yet another example of a knee-jerk reaction by the Minister who changes policies on immigration according to the headlines of the day? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: Yes I have seen that article as was the case with the article yesterday which similarly showed Ukrainian workers working very happily on Ashburton farms. I do remind members that these are allegations at this stage. What I have done is simply suspend the approvals in principle for the individual farmers while those allegations are investigated. A number of issues have been raised by this case every single one of which could have been progressed much more quickly by reference to the appropriate authorities rather than by participating in a tabloid-style beat-up on the front page of the  
Sunday Star-Times 
. 
Paul Adams 
: In the light of the fact that the primary question relates to the use of immigrants to fill skills shortages in mid-Canterbury where the number of unemployed is very low at 132 has the Government considered offering incentives for internal migration to unemployed in other regions? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: Work permit policy seeks to achieve a balance between the needs of employers in areas of skills shortage and the responsibility of employers to contribute to skills training and development within New Zealand. It is intended to be a stopgap measure. Immigration is not the solution to industry’s problem as far as long-term endemic skills shortages are concerned. It is not an alternative to improving conditions of employment and it is not an alternative to industry developing relocation packages to ensure that work opportunities outside the main centres are attractive to New Zealanders. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I ask the Minister to refer to her own material and the criteria set out on the Immigration Service website and tell this House whether at any time farm labourers have ever been approved which seems never to have been the case and herd managers have been approved which is the case—which surely debunks the case put up by Mr Carter that these people were being underpaid and misdescribed in a scheme approved by her own department. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The member knows well because he was part of the Government in 1997 and 1998 when work permits were being issued to Marvin Farm Services in the Waikato area that they have been issued for year after year. A process is gone through of checking whether there is a labour market shortage and seeking ways of addressing that shortage. The member has seen the approval in principle to employ a foreign worker. The individuals concerned had to show evidence of a 3-year relevant tertiary qualification and of at least 6 months’ practical work experience on a dairy farm; a letter offering them a position listing the salary offered and any other form of remuneration and accommodation; and a copy of this letter showing the overseas— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The answer was too long. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I seek leave to table evidence in respect of the Canterbury situation—the one we are talking about—which refers only to herd and farm managers under Lianne Dalziel as the Minister of Immigration and for dairy farmers senior positions only experienced under her administration— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table those documents. Is there any objection? There is.