Ag 21 october, 2015

Page 1

Wednesday, Oct 21, 2015

Since Sept 27, 1879

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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY

Romance of steam lives Historic locomotive stopover draws a crowd. FULL STORY

P4

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PHOTO TETSURO MITOMO 201015-TM-035

Revved up bangers P14

Solution needed to visa problem BY MICHELLE NELSON

MICHELLE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ

Youngsters wanted P17

Mid Canterbury dairy farmers are facing a labour shortage in the fallout from a visa scandal involving Filipino workers. Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury president Willy Leferink raised the issue with Minister of Economic Development Steven Joyce in Ashburton recently. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has confirmed there were 661 Filipino workers on Canterbury dairy farms as at September 17, however it would not give details of the number under investigation. Mid Canterbury dairy farmers are heavily reliant on immigrant labour, and Mr Leferink said a significant number of Filipino workers were under re-

view. Uncertainty about the future was impacting on their ability to concentrate on their work. Mr Joyce said the Filipino visa corruption problem was challenging and “very significant”. Meetings are under way to assess the scope of the problem, he said. Dodgy documentation could catch out anyone from the Philippines who has been issued a work permit in the past six years, according to Filipino Dairy Farm Workers’ Association chairman Earl Magtibay. Corrupt recruiters in the Philippines have been accused of “fixing” immigration documents at costs of up to $15,000, to enable people access to New Zealand visas. In most cases this involved amending the length and extent of their work experience, but often

it was only tweaking details. New Zealand recruitment agencies are required to use a recruitment company based in the Philippines. “We need to make the pathway better for people who have been in a community for three or four years, and have developed an attachment to that community,” Mr Joyce said. “We need to find a practical solution without compromising immigration policy.” INZ is still processing visas from Filipino dairy workers and approving individual applications, the department’s assistant general manager Peter Elms said. Dairy workers who have remained with the same employer are not being disadvantaged by any delay in processing applications, he said.

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