Samoa’s Minister of Industry, Commerce and Labour hopes that there would be discussions about Samoan seasonal workers receiving automatic permanent residence when the leaders of New Zealand and Samoa meet in Apia early next month.
Minister Lautafi Fio Selafi Purcell returned from New Zealand last month where he had informal talks with New Zealand’s Minister of Pacific People and Associate Minister for Courts and Justice Aupito Sua Williams Sio and Kris Faafoi Minister for Civil Defense and Commerce and Consumer Affairs, as well as NZ’s Associate Immigration Minister.
Lautafi said the informal approach is to initiate the “thinking tanks from both governments” to explore a more permanent arrangement that will take into account contribution by Samoan RSE workers to New Zealand’s horticulture and viticulture industries need for labour during their picking season.
“There is no question about the need for the RSE scheme,” he added.
“But taking into consideration our exclusive annual permanent residence quota of 1,100 which is not filled every year, the thinking is to use our RSE workers to fill the quota eliminating the need for these people to go through the permanent residence application process,” he said.
“Some of the annual quota requirements are quite difficult to meet for many of the applicants.
“And if the RSE employers and farmers are satisfied with the performance of our RSE workers, that can be taken into consideration into granting permanent residence in New Zealand for these workers.
“If the farmers in New Zealand are also willing to offer permanent employment to the Samoan workers who are highly recommended to work as full time employees why do they need to put their names in the Quota.”
Samoa was and is still the third biggest sending country for RSE and there are currently about 1600 workers in New Zealand.
Lautafi hopes that the issue will be included in bi-lateral talks in Apia between Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern.
Ardern will visit Samoa as part of a Pacific Mission to witness first-hand the recovery after tropical cyclone Gita.
Photo supplied Govt Press Secretariat. Caption: MCIL Minister Lautafi Fio Selafi Purcell with government officials visiting Samoan RSE in the Hawkes Bay region recently.