9. Question No. 9—ImmigrationERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of ImmigrationQuestion No. 9—Immigration9. ERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of Immigration: Does he think that his policy of making nurses wait two years to apply for residence is working when migrant nurses already in New Zealand are leaving to go to Australia and does he agree with the 64 percent of nurses surveyed by the Nurses Organisation that said the most important thing the Government can do to address the nursing crisis is to place nurses on the fast track to residence?Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Immigration): In answer to the first part of the member's question yes. New Zealand's residency offer is a highly competitive offer compared to most other jurisdictions including the Australian Direct Entry system that she often refers to in very simplistic terms; noting that for example under that system an applicant to be successful must be under 45 years of age must have three years of work experience unless they have an exemption and it's currently taking 23 months to process 90 percent of those applications. Here in New Zealand through the 2021 Resident Visa programme we've given residence to 3626 healthcare workers already and under the Accredited Employer Work Visa system which only opened up fully last month we've already approved 200 work visas for people in the health sector as well. In answer to the second part of the member's question the member is again being very simplistic with the figures that have been presented. The survey from the Nurses Organisation did not ask for the single most important factor; it asked its members to identify a range of factors which might be helpful in terms of addressing workforce issues. I note the New Zealand Nurses Organisation's own comments in response to the Productivity Commission report in which they note that issues of pay and conditions are in fact more important than immigration settings—something that our Government is working on after nine years of neglect from that lot.Erica Stanford: What is his response to the Tauranga aged-care nurse who told Radio New Zealand this week that despite wanting to stay in New Zealand she was having to move to Australia because unlike New Zealand they were offering her the certainty of residence?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: In my primary answer I have already described how in fact the residency pathway that the member often refers to as being highly simple and easy to access is in fact a little more complicated than is presented. Here in New Zealand the residency pathway for aged-care nurses is a simple one: it is a two-year pathway to residency which is a significantly streamlined process and it applies to all 13 groups of nurses. The member might actually like to consider very carefully the issues at stake when it comes to the aged-care workforce. Because while a pay differential remains in place which has been in place for a number of years a straight-to-residency pathway for aged-care nurses would in fact risk a very significant outflow of those very nurses into other parts of the healthcare sector something that in fact key people in that sector have consistently raised.Erica Stanford: In light of the answer to that question then why did the Minister not use a section of the Immigration Act to tie nurses to specific sectors of the nursing workforce for two years for example but giving them residence as soon as they land?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Because that particular pathway which is available under the Immigration Act would in fact require relatively draconian actions such as deporting nurses should they make a change in their conditions.Ricardo Menéndez March: Will the Minister listen to nurses and the unions that represent them and commit to reviewing the residency criteria to put nurses on par with doctors engineers and other professions that are essential to our economy?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The Government has said that after one year of the settings being in place which will occur approximately in the middle of 2023 we will be considering a full review of the green list settings.Simeon Brown: I thought it was question time not excuse time.SPEAKER: Simeon Brown all during question time there have been a number of interjections I should have pulled up as out of order. That one: out of order and at the wrong time. You can stand withdraw and apologise.Simeon Brown: I withdraw and apologise.Erica Stanford: What number of new offshore nurses would have to apply for a work visa each month for him to deem his policy is working given that only 24 nurses have applied in the first eight weeks?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Quite clearly the member's question is a purely hypothetical one but I do note that there have in fact been 8787 job checks approved by Immigration New Zealand for the healthcare workforces and 190 work visas approved since the system fully opened last month. I look forward to further progress in the coming months and will consider any further decisions based on that.Erica Stanford: If he can't say how many nurses we need each month to make sure that this policy is working isn't it the case that he has absolutely no intention of changing this policy despite saying If we need to make adjustments to this policy to get the outcomes then I'll certainly be open to doing that."?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: No that's entirely wrong. What I'm commenting on is the fact that the system is currently attracting and retaining significant numbers of workers within the system but we know that New Zealand—as other countries are—faces significant pressures across critical workforces and we will keep open minds about what future settings should be to meet those challenges."