Faafoi KrisHon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Immigration): Can I begin with something which is potentially out of order and acknowledge the participants in the rally this afternoon out the front of Parliament. I think diplomatically I received a mixed welcome but I do want to acknowledge the fact that it was good to hear their stories on the front forecourt of Parliament and I thank them for doing that.When the Government did close the border over a year ago we were very clear about our priority and that was to protect lives. In the year before we closed the border nearly 7 million people came across it; in the year following the closure that number was 226000—in other words: arrivals into New Zealand were 2 percent of what they were before the border closed. We made the decision to close the borders to everyone but New Zealand citizens and residents in order to keep COVID-19 out keep New Zealand safe and also to keep our economy open. It was a decision based on science and strong public health advice. And also that has enabled New Zealand to avoid the worst of a global pandemic. Entry to New Zealand from all countries remains strictly controlled to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Our priority has always been to enable New Zealanders New Zealand permanent residents to enter New Zealand and this has meant we have had difficult choices to make about who else can come to New Zealand within the constraints of the managed isolation and quarantine capacity that we have here in New Zealand.The Government understands that the border closure has caused some temporary visa holders difficulties. While the border closure has meant we can keep our economy going it has also meant the loss of customers for some sectors of the economy—like international education and the likes of tourism and hospitality—while others have faced labour shortages. It has also affected temporary migrants and their families directly including those who were caught offshore at the time of the border closing those migrants who are here in New Zealand but whose family members are overseas and those who had made arrangements to move to New Zealand but have been unable to do so. At this stage because of the pandemic outside of New Zealand and because we are just ramping up our vaccine programme there is difficulty providing certainty of when visa holders who do not meet the current border exception criteria may be able to enter the country and their current visa expiry remains in place. We recognise the difficulties faced by individuals and families whose plans have been disrupted or have been unable to reunite with their families. Some families have taken the tough decision to reunify in their home country because of this. This is why the Government will continue to be mindful of their situations as we open back up to the world.While tight border restrictions continue to be a key part of the Government's strategy to protect New Zealand against COVID-19 over the past year the Government has made an ongoing series of changes to enable more people to enter into New Zealand to support New Zealand's recovery and unite families as we have been able to do so and as it has been safe. Under these settings around 2000 partners and dependent children of New Zealand - based work or student visa holders who normally live in New Zealand have been granted a border exception and 3000 family members of critical workers have entered to date and we have progressively made other changes so that more families could reunite. Last month we made changes to the border settings to enable partners and children of onshore temporary work visa holders to travel to New Zealand to be reunited—these included the partners and dependent children of temporary visa holders in New Zealand who hold visas but had not yet arrived here when the border closed the families of healthcare workers in New Zealand and a number of other highly skilled workers in other sectors who are currently in New Zealand. Immigration New Zealand has also resumed processing offshore relationship-based visa applications for partners of dependent children of New Zealand residents and citizens from September 2020.We have also made changes so that more businesses can get the skills they need. Since August 1300 normally resident temporary work visa holders who had jobs family and homes in New Zealand but were unable to return due to border restrictions have returned to New Zealand as part of a border exception. The Government has extended some employer-assisted and working holiday visas so that people can continue to work for industries needing their skills and we are currently assessing what else we can do in this space. A number of groups of workers have been provided a class exception to the border closure; the largest to date was the exception for the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme—or RSE scheme.The Government has been considering class border exceptions as circumstances permit taking into account the benefits to New Zealand's economic social and humanitarian objectives and the impacts on managed isolation and quarantine capacity. Further to the decisions and changes made affecting those who are offshore we have made a number of pragmatic decisions for those migrants who are onshore including a number of visa extensions including for workers visitors and working holiday makers and making it easier for people to stay onshore in their jobs and remain lawful. The bar for entry while the global pandemic remains high—we have seen some managed isolation capacity free up since the creation of the trans-Tasman bubble and we'll consider where we can make changes to take the pressure off people and businesses. But our priority will always be maintaining the strength of the border settings that have kept COVID-19 out of our communities. This means that employers will continue to need to look primarily onshore for talent and skills and there are existing residence pathways for those who are currently in New Zealand on temporary work visas but wanted to stay long term. The Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) in particular may be an option for those skilled workers who will contribute to New Zealand's long-term economic and social goals. The Government has also signalled a review of the Skilled Migrant Category resident visa to assess whether it remains fit for purpose to meet New Zealand's skills needs in the longer term. In the meantime Immigration New Zealand is working on ways that it can reduce the wait times of Skilled Migrant Category residence applications and I'm expecting to announce the restart of the SMC expression of interest soon.The Government is also turning its mind to what a reopening of the border might look like and I have signalled a reset of our immigration settings. How fast we reopen our borders and to whom are questions we don't yet have the answers to but are considering in great detail. Steps to open the border will be taken only as and when we are able to do safely. The quarantine-less travel with Australia and the Cook Islands—as of Monday—are examples of our commitment to this.Petitions have been submitted to this House to express people's views on our immigration and border policy settings and the unifying theme in all of them is people's desire for things to return to normal—this is an understandable sentiment. As I said to the group outside this afternoon at this stage we cannot provide absolute certainty to these people about when our border protections will be able to be relaxed. However as I have outlined the Government will continue to be mindful of different and difficult situations that these people are facing and finding themselves in as we look to open back up to the world.