SpeechImmigrationMARJA LUBECK (Chairperson of the Education and Workforce Committee): Thank you Mr Chair. Nice to see you in the Chair to take my call in this Estimates debate. I take this call as the chair of the Education and Workforce Committee. Our select committee met on 29 June 5 July and 27 July to consider Vote Labour Market. We heard in total from three Ministers responsible for the appropriations in Vote Labour Market. We also heard evidence from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and we received advice from the Office of the Auditor-General with regard to Vote Labour Market.Budget 2022 is seeking $2.802 billion for Vote Labour Market. This compares with the estimated $2.673 billion that was spent in 2021-22. It is just over 16 percent of the Vote appropriated to Vote Immigration. Our committee heard from the Minister of Immigration the Hon Michael Wood and the Minister it is fair to say impressed us with his knowledge of a portfolio he only just recently had taken over. For 2022-23 the Minister of Immigration is responsible for appropriations totalling just under $464 million for immigration services approximately two-thirds of which is to be funded by third parties through immigration fees and levies; $8.6 million for policy advice and related services; and just over $4 million for regulation of immigration advisers of which $935000 is to be funded by third-party revenue.Just a little bit on the main reasons for changes in appropriated spending: there were no changes between 2020 and 2021 compared to 2021 and 2022. The increase in settlement and integration of refugees and other migrants primarily related to the Government's response to the crisis in Afghanistan—$26 million—and there were changes between 2021-22 and 2022-23. The decrease in settlement and integration of refugees and other migrants primarily relates to the end of time-limited funding for the Government's response to the crisis in Afghanistan—$18 million. The decrease in assessment and processing services primarily relates to the end of time-limited funding for closing offshore offices—$12 million—and implementing the accredited employer work visa and supporting systems a total of $5 million. The decrease in services for the attraction of migrants primarily relates to the transfer of just under $2 million from Immigration New Zealand to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise for the provision of investment attraction services and the end of time-limited funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to support Pacific Island country involvement in the Recognised Seasonal Employer programme—$2 million. But it's important to note that the funding for 2022-23 is still significantly more than it was before the pandemic.I'd like to touch on some of the areas the committee paid particular attention to in our review of the Estimates. Our committee considered the accredited employer work visa and from 4 July 2022 this visa is the main pathway for migrants on employer-assisted temporary work visas. All three stages of the new accredited employer work visa are now live with applications open for employer accreditation job checks and work visas. There are three stages to this: employers have to be accredited passing a job check and then inviting a migrant worker to apply for the job. The Minister told the committee that the visa is an important step in moving away from an over-reliance on cheap migrant labour. The Minister said this reliance has not been a good thing for the New Zealand economy or for migrant workers. The Minister told the committee that previous targets for processing migrant worker applications for the accredited employer work visa remained in place and he explained that an additional 230 staff were hired to assist with visa processing and also a site opened in Christchurch to increase capacity. We heard that good progress was being made in processing job checks for the accredited employer work visa applications received so far. We also asked how Budget 2022 will support refugees. From July 2022 the Government increased the refugee quota from 1000 to 1500 per year and we've also doubled the number of family members that we will accept into New Zealand under the refugee family support category to 600. The Education and Workforce Committee concluded its deliberation by recommending the appropriations for the year ending 30 June 2023 for Vote Labour Market be accepted. Thank you Mr Chair.