10. Question No. 10—ImmigrationERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of ImmigrationQuestion No. 10—Immigration10. ERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of Immigration: On what date did he first become aware of the anomaly between migrant nurses who arrived in New Zealand before our borders closed being unable to bring their families to New Zealand and nurses who arrived after our borders closed being able to do so and what steps if any has he taken to address this disparity?Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Immigration): The Government has been aware of issues that were caused by our border closure since it happened on 19 March of last year. The Government closed the border to keep COVID-19 out and to keep New Zealanders safe. While unprecedented it has been one of our most effective measures. We were at the time aware that this decision would impact and cause disruptions to many people including temporary work visa holders such as the nurses that the member speaks of. Around the specific issue of split families I'm advised that I first received a formal briefing on 14 December last year. I acknowledge the difficulties for families that have been affected by the border closure and I have sought guidance on how many temporary visa holders would be eligible if we were to open a pathway for them to bring in family in the same way other critical workers can.Erica Stanford: Why has it taken eight months and three 6 o'clock news stories for him to finally request advice specifically on the migrant nurse anomaly?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Well I would disagree about the assertion about the 6 o'clock news stories but as I've said the border issues we were well aware of back when we closed the borders in March of last year as the member will know as well as giving visas to critical workers. Another issue is the capacity of our managed isolation. New Zealanders know that the border has been one of our best measures to keep COVID-19 out and they expect the Government to continue its vigilance.Erica Stanford: Does the Minister agree that it makes more sense to keep the nurses we have here rather than replace them with new migrant nurses and their families who will be out of the workforce for up to three months undertaking their nursing registration courses?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: We acknowledge the work that all the critical health workers are doing to keep us safe at the moment but I guess we also acknowledge the importance of keeping the vigilance of the border settings that have been the most effective tool to keep us safe.Erica Stanford: Is he concerned that his inaction is causing these nurses to leave at a time when New Zealand needs an additional 2000 healthcare workers to give COVID vaccines?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I'm aware of and acknowledge the difficulties that those workers are facing.Erica Stanford: What does the Minister say to Jeslin Thampy an ICU nurse at Dunedin Hospital whose three-year-old daughter cries each night on their video calls because she hasn't seen her mother in 13 months?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Again I acknowledge the difficulty that it may have for some families that have been separated from their families for a long time. I also want to acknowledge the rather extreme unprecedented closing of the borders and again the expectation that New Zealanders have that we maintain our vigilance to maintain our relatively good position with COVID-19 to the rest of the world.Erica Stanford: Why does the Minister need to wait for further advice when the obvious solution is simply to allow these nurses already in New Zealand to bring their families here just as he has done for the 500 who arrived since the borders were closed?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Because it's not as obvious as that. It's also about making sure—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order!Hon David Bennett: Even the rest of the Labour Party agrees.SPEAKER: Mr Bennett stand withdraw and apologise.Hon David Bennett: I withdraw and apologise.Hon KRIS FAAFOI: As well as potentially opening up a new line of visa holders to be able to bring their families that also causes us to consider a decision around managed isolation capacity. Many members in this House will know just how much demand there is on managed isolation when there are New Zealanders who are also facing delays coming into managed isolation and who have priority to come through managed isolation.Erica Stanford: Does the Minister understand that if these migrant nurses leave we will need to bring in more migrant nurses to take their places using more managed isolation spaces because we have a critical healthcare shortage in this country?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I've been briefed of the issues.