SpeechHon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Immigration): I'm happy to answer questions from Messrs Mooney McDowall and Woodhouse and I thank them for them. There are a number of questions which run across all three members' contributions which effectively relate to the relative simplicity of the accredited employer work visa (AEWV) and other settings and whether we can have confidence that they're set up in a way that's appropriate and allows for an ease of processing and therefore timely outcomes for people who engage in the system.In answer to the very specific question from Mr Mooney: have I spoken to businesses and others about working through the system? The answer is yes I've spoken to a range of businesses about that. And I've also sat down with staff from Immigration New Zealand in my own office one night and said to them Take me through the system from beginning to end in terms of the online system and how it works and what it's actually like to engage in it." I was broadly speaking impressed by the simplicity of the online system and I would genuinely encourage other members to have a look at it and acquaint themselves with it. My understanding is that for the accredited employer application process we're often hearing that it takes about half an hour for people to work through that process online. It is a very simple kind of Dropbox online system for people to apply into. As I say the processing times for that are an average of five to six days. So yes I have confidence that the processing of those is working its way through very smoothly. The job check stage which is the next one that follows—those completed applications are coming through in an average of 10 days at the moment which is right on the target that we had for the straightforward applications. The answer really that I think I can give to Mr Mooney is: well what would you take out? Joseph Mooney: The job check.Hon MICHAEL WOOD: If you think it's too complicated what would you take out? And the member answers "The job check." That simply will be a point of disagreement between this side of the House and that side of the House. The job check is a fundamental part of the system because we do believe it is appropriate that there is a basic check to ensure whether or not there is a New Zealander who is willing and able to do that job before migrant labour is accessed. That is a core component of the immigration rebalance and one that we believe is appropriate.And here's the other bit. Actually that labour market test is significantly simplified over and above what was mainly previously in place where quite often in addition to advertising there was also a requirement to engage with the Ministry of Social Development to see if there were workers who could be available from that source. So broadly speaking it is the same or simpler than the previous job check settings. But I'll come back to that fundamental: we think it is appropriate that there is a basic check in place to ensure whether or not there is a New Zealander available to do the job and that might just be a point of disagreement—Hon Michael Woodhouse: No it's not.Hon MICHAEL WOOD: —between this side of the House and that side of the House. Mr Woodhouse says it's not a point of disagreement; Mr Mooney seems to suggest that we should drop that requirement so I'll leave that for them to work out.Joseph Mooney: What about the tokens?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The third stage—the tokens are available for six months once they are issued. So there's a reasonable period of time for the employer to then go out and to recruit. Effectively that stage is then in the hands of the employer to undertake the recruitment and then we will process work visas and the processing time frames in place for that are 20 days. As I said at the beginning of that process those applications have really only started to flow in over the last couple of weeks. But based on step one and step two of AEWV the processing time frames have been at or have been under what was indicated for straightforward applications when the process went through.Mr Mooney asked a very specific question around fruit pickers. That obviously is a different part of the system. The Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) labour force is the key one that we look to to deal with that particular set of issues. Of course it is worth noting that year on year the Government has continued to increase that workforce. For the coming year I have that decision in front of me to make over the next little while and I've asked employers unions and other stakeholders to really sit down and try and get on top of a good understanding of what an appropriate number would be for the coming season. But I want them to also look alongside that at some of the very real challenges in that sector including labour standards. That is important if this scheme is to retain social licence. RSE is important for those businesses. It does have the ability to be a win-win-win for all concerned but we've got to get on top of those issues—the sector has to get on top of those issues for that system to have social licence and for us to be able to look those workers in the eye and say that we're going to treat them decently and fairly. That's something we strongly believe in on this side of the House."