5. Question No. 5—ImmigrationERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of ImmigrationQuestion No. 5—Immigration5. ERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of Immigration: Does he stand by all of his statements and actions?Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Immigration): Yes I do in the full context that they were made. In particular I stand by my statement last week welcoming the significant increase in working holiday visas that have arrived in the country ahead of summer. I can inform the House that as of today 18737 such people have now arrived in the country and that has been supported by changes that the Government has made to increase—to double in fact—the Competence Assessment Programme (CAP) scheme numbers for the coming summer. I look forward to seeing this strong trend continue as we prepare for a bumper summer tourism season.Erica Stanford: Why after Treasury's economic update in October 2021 which stated Labour shortages continue to pose barriers to growth and will keep inflationary pressures elevated." did the Government not move more quickly to allow skilled workers to apply for the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEW visa) in March rather than July?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Because through the first part of 2022 New Zealand was still dealing with a significant COVID-19 outbreak and one of our primary measures of defence was to have protections at our borders. It may have escaped the member's recollection but during that period we faced the biggest outbreak of COVID that our country has seen. Our Government has moved forward this year with the reconnection strategy which saw all of our main visa categories open up as of July and as the year has gone on we have moved forward to open up the skilled migrant category to increase the number of people coming through the working holiday visa scheme to increase the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) CAP scheme to open up the Green List and other changes that show our commitment to making sure that we do reconnect with the world.Erica Stanford: In light of that answer does he agree with the Prime Minister who said on 16 March "The major issue here is not a question of safety but a question of the ability to process those new visas in a timely way." and if so is it the case that his department's inability to process AEW visas in March this year has exacerbated labour shortages and elevated inflationary pressures?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Well to some degree the member points to a statement of the obvious in respect of every country around the world which is that as every country used border protections to keep safe from COVID-19 it was challenging to access international labour. What we have done since July is open up all of our major categories. We have provided over 85000 job check approvals which are approvals for employers to be able to recruit temporary labour offshore. We have provided approvals for over 13000 work visas to enable those people to come into New Zealand and as I just said in my primary answer over 18000 working holidaymakers have now arrived in New Zealand following on from about 38000 of those applications having been approved. So I do believe that our immigration system is providing approvals to workers to get into New Zealand but the member does need to reflect on the fact that every single country around the world faces these challenges because of a global labour shortage. The member can wave her hands around and point to some of these challenges; what we actually need are practical policies to actually help New Zealand employers and workers and the member and her party offer nothing in that regard.Erica Stanford: Given that only 2569 AEW visa holders have arrived to 11 October what does he say to a business owner who called me yesterday and said "By the time we get workers in the country next year according to the Reserve Bank we'll probably already be in recession and will have wasted the opportunity we had this year to get workers we desperately needed."?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: What I would say is that Immigration New Zealand has approved work visas for over 13200 workers to enter New Zealand. Once that work visa has been provided there is obviously some time for that worker to get themselves ready to uproot their family to make a plan to come to New Zealand and then to come to this country. The immigration system has to have the right policies in place. It does need to ensure that it processes applications in a reasonably timely way but there are some factors within the system that are actually down to the people involved and one of those will be the time it takes for someone to come to New Zealand after a work visa has been issued.Erica Stanford: Given that answer then why is it that the Government didn't move more quickly at the end of 2021 to get businesses accredited and get job checks done so that we could get workers in the country from March rather than waiting until July giving them much more time to enter the country?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Well I'm quite sure that we could have a fine old time going through statements made by members on that side of the House about when our borders should be open and when our borders should have been closed as we were dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. But our Government makes no apologies for the fact that we put the health of New Zealanders first as we were dealing with the global outbreak at its peak. During that period we continued to fill critical skill shortages through the critical purpose visa which enabled workers to come to New Zealand in areas where there were particular needs in a controlled way. And we have then moved forward this year to open up other visa categories through the immigration rebalance. We do need to have policies that make a real difference in this area but going back and relitigating history and pretending we didn't have a global pandemic to deal with isn't a sign of anyone who's ready to make good policy.Erica Stanford: Who is right then the Minister who's telling us today that everything's fine and dandy or the Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr who this morning on Mike Hosking Breakfast said "It is a handbrake. More labour would be better without [a] doubt [it's] loud and clear … and everyone has told the Government that."Hon MICHAEL WOOD: As I said before in an answer to a question it's all very well to point to challenges that we face and no one is saying that there are not challenges that we face. We have a record-low unemployment rate which is a good thing that does create challenges in certain parts of the labour market and we need to access international labour to fill some of those gaps. What our Government has done over the course of the past year has been to put in place an immigration system that helps us to do that and I'll go through some of those steps again. We've opened up the accredited employer work visa system. We've got the skilled migrant category reopened. We've reopened the parent category which makes it more attractive for people to come to New Zealand which a previous Government closed. We've got the green list system open. We've increased RSE numbers. We've increased working holiday visa numbers. Those are the practical steps that we have taken in dealing with a global labour shortage that every country is trying to deal with. One thing I'll say that's a positive difference between the ACT Party and the National Party is they've actually put out some ideas for things that we could do in the immigration system today—I think many of them are terrible but at least they're putting forward some ideas for debate unlike that lot who just complain with no solutions at all.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. What was it in the question that was asked of Mr McAnulty—of sorry they look similar Mr Wood.Hon Kieran McAnulty: Take that back.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Sorry. That was—quite right—SPEAKER: This is a point of order.Hon Gerry Brownlee: —I withdraw and apologise Kieran. My apologies. It was a genuine mistake. What was it in the question that was asked of Mr Wood that meant that you were prepared to tolerate the sort of answer that he gave to the House?SPEAKER: No no you're absolutely right. He shouldn't have brought the ACT Party into it on a question from the National Party. I will give the ACT Party one extra question and the National Party one extra question.Erica Stanford: Why haven't his immigration settings responded to the nine consecutive official cash rate (OCR) hikes that referenced critical labour shortages including yesterday when the Reserve Bank said that businesses remain held back by severe labour shortages that are unlikely to ease in the near-term.Hon MICHAEL WOOD: We have responded to those challenges. One of the differences about being in Government and the member's position in Opposition is that we actually have to come up with solutions and policies to deal with the challenges that are in front of us. That is something that that member has not ever been able to bring herself to do. I've outlined to the House on multiple occasions the significant policies that our Government has put forward to deal with those challenges. They are challenges faced by every country around the world and we will continue to work with employers to make sure that we do have good policies in place to address some of these challenges.Nicole McKee: Thank you Mr Speaker. Is the Minister supportive of ACT's immigration policy announced earlier today whereby we state that all immigration policy decisions will be subject to a regulatory impact analysis and if not why not?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I've only briefly seen the policy's proposals that the ACT Party put out previously. I can assure that member that every significant policy that our Government does develop in the immigration area does go through that process and that now that we have come out of the COVID emergency period we have put in place a commitment to have full consultation and normal policy processes around all of our significant policy areas. What I don't agree with in the ACT policy is their policy to do away with any process of employers needing to check if there are New Zealanders who are available to do a job and their policy of doing away with any controls around the wages that are paid to migrant workers which we believe is an important thing to ensure that migrants aren't exploited. Barbara Edmonds: Is the Minister aware of the comments made by the Reserve Bank Governor this morning on the OCR uplift hearing with the Finance and Expenditure Committee that workforce shortages are a global issue and that other Reserve Bank Governors across the globe are asking where the people are?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Yes I do agree with that assessment and anyone who is serious about understanding immigration policy understands that these are global issues that are faced by virtually every developed country around the world. Our focus is on making sure that we have policies that do support employers in that area. That's why we've given out over 85000 job checks that give employers the ability to recruit internationally. That's why we've made those increases to the RSE scheme and to the working holiday visa scheme. That's why we've opened up the parent category that the National Party closed last time they were in Government. We have a record of actually putting in place practical policies and we'll keep doing that."