New Zealand PM John Key seeks more immigrant workers, cites work ethic issue of natives

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key wants to bring in more immigrant workers into the country in Oceania, including for low-skilled jobs. The tiny island nation neighbouring Australia saw 69,000 people settling in the first seven months of the year. Michael Woodhouse, Immigration Minister of New Zealand, was quoted by Radio New Zealand as saying that it would draw plans for the number of new immigrants their government was expecting into the country to be reviewed by the Cabinet in one month’s time. Speaking on Morning Report on 5 September, even as Mr. Key accepted the fact that the impact of high immigration was straining the country's infrastructure, they would need to continue welcoming a large number of migrants to work in New Zealand. He felt that it was in part as many of the country’s employers could not get native people to work due to issues such as work ethic or the increasing incidence of drug abuse. Mr. Key said that people brought in from the islands do a good job to pick fruit under Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme. But when have they been trialling a domestic RSE scheme, employers were saying that some of the people would not pass a drug test, while other others don’t report to work, with some claiming to have health issues afterwards, he said. But there is no denying the fact that there are good people in their country, Mr. Key added. The New Zealand Premier felt that a major factor was the geographic location in filling unemployed people with available jobs and hiring for a position like a hairdresser may warrant bringing in a migrant to fill the vacancy. Addressing the strain on infrastructure, he said that the need of the hour is to increase the spend on the basic amenities such as education or policing, which according to him requires a larger population. Another advantage of bringing in immigrants is that they generate economic activity, add value to their country, culturally as well as adding to the gross economic wealth of the nation, Mr. Key said. If you plan to migrate to New Zealand, approach Y-Axis to avail help and assistance to file for a visa from one of its 19 offices located in all of India’s major cities.