The Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway who was in Auckland earlier this week, met community leaders and the media, to listen to their concerns as regards to the plight of work visa holders, both onshore and offshore.

While to everything else, his reply was the now standard – wait and watch – he did acknowledge one thing.

When asked whether he thinks New Zealand appreciates the value migrant workers bring to the country’s economy, especially in sectors such as dairy, tourism, hospitality, nursing and education, the Minister noted, “Those who come to New Zealand on temporary work visas to work in these sectors provide huge value to our economy. So we need them. And I would say that New Zealand will always need migrants.”

“But these are unprecedented times. So our government is working of a two-way plan. First and foremost, we need to train New Zealanders to take up all the available jobs to revive the economy. Something the National Government didn’t do after the Christchurch Earthquakes. But we will. Secondly, once it is feasible and borders are open again, we can think about bringing in migrant workers in only those sectors where there is a still remaining need. What those sectors may be, is difficult to say now, and that option is not available for the time-being in any case.”

The Minister also criticised the previous John Key Government for opening the doors for migrants without putting in enough checks to prevent migrant exploitation. “This is also something we are not prepared to do,” he added.

For the time being, his response to all the migrants workers stuck offshore is to “stay where you are”.

-Gaurav Sharma