Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Kam na mauri, Talofa, Ni sa bula, Gud de tru olgeta, Mo yoran, Kia ora tatou and Pacific greetings.

First and foremost, we acknowledge all those in Vanuatu, particularly families and friends of our RSE workers and colleagues, who have lost loved ones, homes, businesses and gardens as a result of Tropical Cyclone Pam. We will continue to work with industry and employers to ensure Vanuatu RSE workers currently in New Zealand are cared for and supported during this distressing time.

In January I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with Tuvalu’s Minister Hon Taukelina Finikaso. Minister Finikaso is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Environment, Trade and Labour and was in New Zealand to officially open the Tuvalu High Commission Office in Wellington. Whilst the visit was not associated with the RSE, we appreciated this opportunity

to connect and discuss how to further strengthen New Zealand’s RSE collaboration with Tuvalu.

In February, we hosted a ministerial visit from the Vanuatu government led by Honourable Charlot Salwai, Minister of Internal Affairs, and his officials. The delegation enjoyed their visit and learnt about work conditions encountered by RSE workers, by visiting and meeting with workers and employers in Hawkes Bay and Marlborough.

I am also pleased to advise that we have collaborated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and now our Immigration Health Project Team has successfully increased the number of panel doctors in Vanuatu has increased from two to five. This increase helps ensure Vanuatu has improved capacity to provide medical checks for 3000 RSE workers as part of their visa application process

This April RSE: SPP newsletter updates you on the success of the Vanuatu secondment programme and the Inter-Agency Understanding signings with the Nauru and Kiribati governments. We also update you on the Vakameasina programme and the Remittance Pilot Project which will assess the economic and development impact of

RSE remittances in Tonga and Samoa. We are profiling Aongatete Coolstores Ltd, an RSE employer in the Bay of Plenty who has been an RSE employer since 2007. There is also exciting news about Samoa as the first pilot country for website and database development.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your on-going involvement with the RSE SPP programme and look forward to our continued work together.

George Rarere Manager Pacifica Labour & Skills

george.rarere@mbie.govt.nz +64 6 975 5578

A WORD FROM MANAGER PACIFICA LABOUR & SKILLS

STRENGTHENING PACIFIC PARTNERSHIPS UPDATE APRIL 2015

The Pacifica Labour and Skills Team would like to acknowledge and thank all those who contributed to last months Vanuatu’s relief fundraising. The Pacific Island shirt day across MBIE raised more than $4,000 and the donations from the delicious RSE-picked apples raised just over $450; a fantastic effort. Thank you kindly for all your support.

Pip Jamieson Relationship Manager South Island

Otago

The Central Otago harvest has been a busy time this summer with a greater volume of quality crops. It was thought that some late

frosts in isolated areas might impact production but that doesn’t appear to have occurred. The region declared a labour shortage over the peak summer weeks to assist with labour demand which appears to have been effective.

Canterbury

Very dry conditions over summer caused growers concern and impacts were continually and closely monitored. Fire safety and risk of damage were constant and rain conditions hoped for to assist as crops grew did not eventuate.

Marlborough

Development work to support expansion occurred on many vineyards over the summer and a number of RSE workers assisted with completing this. The very dry, hot conditions made work challenging and drought conditions have been a concern. The fires in the Marlborough region appear to have had limited impact on viticulture and we were not aware of any significant impact on RSE workers. At this stage the 2015 vintage harvest is looking promising.

Nelson

The hail storms in late 2014 had a significant impact on isolated orchards mostly in the Riwaka area. The employers of these orchards have been reviewing production and labour requirements accordingly. The dry conditions and water restrictions have been monitored closely along with close irrigating. Harvest 2015 appeared to start a little later than normal, although overall forecasts look promising.

Tony Jensen Relationship Manager North Island

Hawkes Bay

The apple harvest season started well with most RSE employees arriving by the end of March. The season was about two

weeks behind normal patterns; however there is a heavy crop to pick so the end harvest window may be intense. Squash harvest got underway and is on track with some growers having increased and others having decreased the amount of hectares grown due to supply and demand off-shore. The crop is better this year compared to last year due to better weather conditions and although the region has now been hit by two hail storms there doesn’t appear to be any effect on the employers’ labour requirement.

BOP/Waikato

The kiwifruit industry has started with the normal RSE recruitment occurring. The G3 variety is proving to be a prolific fruiter and the industry is well back on track after the devastating effects of PSA.

Northland

New kiwifruit varieties have been grafted so labour levels may be reduced for the next couple of years but are then expected to exceed pre PSA levels once these new varieties come on line. Citrus and blueberries’ crop size and quality are looking positive despite patchy weather.

VIEW FROM THE NORTH VIEW FROM THE SOUTH

NAURU’S ASSESSMENT VISIT Earlier in the year, RSE: SPP Relationship Manager Lafaele Lupo travelled to Nauru to assess and evaluate Nauru’s capacity to manage the RSE programme. Lafaele looked into recruitment processes for Nauru workers and the development of the government’s work ready pool. He also delivered a presentation on the RSE end-to-end process covering how to lodge visa applications through to pre-departure training. Other components of the visit looked at the number of physicians available to undertake RSE medical checks for workers. Part of this visit was to finalise the Inter-Agency Understanding including negotiating Nauru’s action plan and key priorities.

Lafaele’s visit was followed with a visit from Nauru officials late last year to New Zealand where Masau Detudamo, Director of Trade and Pacific Affairs and Miniva Harris, Manager Labour Mobility Unit spent a week lobbying for the employment of Nauru nationals for the 2015 seasonal harvest. This secondment programme also provided Nauru officials with a comprehensive understanding of RSE and New Zealand’s processes and systems. The visit resulted with RSE employer Aongatete Coolstore Ltd agreeing to run a pilot programme employing five workers from Nauru. To date, there are 20 Nauru workers in New Zealand for seasonal work employed by Aongatete Coolstore Ltd and Eastpack in the Bay of Plenty.

LAFAELE LUPO, RSE: SPP RELATIONSHIP MANAGER (SECOND FROM LEFT) WITH NAURU OFFICIALS

SAMOA OFFICIALS UNDERGO DATABASE & WEBSITE TRAININGThe Samoa Employment Unit team participated in training on database and website maintenance in the second week of March in Apia. Participants included Oikoumene Mauala Chang-Tung (Principal Officer), Venus Tupai (SEU Officer), Yoshimura Faraimo (Data Operator), Ambrose Ioapo (Principal IT Officer), Liliu Penaia and Anawim Paulo.

The training aimed to equip the team with skills and knowledge on the basics of website and database updating before the new-look “Samoa Strong” website is launched.

Samoa is the third largest sending RSE Pacific country, and is the first to develop an RSE database and website under SPP. Information management is one of the key deliverables under SPP and the database and website will enhance Samoa’s ability to collect and store information about their participation in the RSE scheme

Ms Oikoumene Mauala Chang-Tung said the database and website training could be daunting. “We are fortunate to be the first RSE country to have a database and a website that ensures our key partners are kept informed and abreast of opportunities, programmes and initiatives including other developments tailored specifically for our Samoan workers.”

The revamped website and newly developed database will provide viewers, audiences and key RSE stakeholders a single place to view information on workers and employers.

The intent is for Samoa to have a reliable database to accurately capture and retain information about RSE workers including employment history in New Zealand, medical history, police records including criminal convictions (if any), financial data including remittances, and other relevant historical data relating. This data should assist, support and strengthen Samoa’s participation in the RSE programme both domestically and internationally.

The website hopes to bridge the information gap to promote more Samoan workers in labour mobility schemes.

The database and website was developed by a New Zealand IT specialist, SV8 Consulting Ltd.

Once the Samoan database and website are completed it is hoped similar tools will be developed and implemented in other Pacific states involved in RSE.

STAFF OF SAMOA EMPLOYMENT UNIT THE LEADING AGENCY SUPPORTING THE RSE PROGRAMME IN SAMOA WITH SV8 CONSULTING LTD TRAINER ATIVALU LEMUELU

RSE EMPLOYER PROFILE – AONGATETE COOLSTORES LTD

Aongatete Coolstores Ltd started out in 1983 as a Coolstore and by 1985 had changed its name to Packing and Coolstoring Kiwifruit. Over the years the company has continued to expand, including their Horticulture Department from which they lease and manage a large area of Kiwifruit Orchards. By 2000 it became clear that the company was going to struggle to get sufficient labour to cater for short term seasonal demands, in spite of advertising and using contract labour providers. In 2003 the company submitted an application under the AIP programme (Approval In Principal) and was recruiting mainly from Malaysia with some workers from Brazil. The AIP programme continued for three years and then in 2007 the company applied for RSE status.

“Initially our motivation for RSE had been just to get a source of reliable staff to service not only the packing process but also the picking.” said Nell Dawson, owner of Aongatete Coolstores Ltd.

“From then on the RSE programme has provided a lot more than just reliable and consistent staff. The workers have developed to become part of the key leadership group and are very much part of the ‘Aongatete Team’.

They are experienced, hard-working and take pride in what they do.”

The company has recruited mainly from Vanuatu and Nell spoke very highly of the good service their company received from the former New Zealand Department of Labour (now Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment).

“We have 14 RSE workers that have been with us from the beginning (2007) from both Tonga and Vanuatu. We have recruited an average of 90 RSE workers per year for each winter and 20 in the summer.”

“There are so many stories of success from us being a part of the RSE scheme, from sawmills being run by solar electricity, building of village facilities, homes, and new and successful businesses being established. Children are now going to school and staying there until leaving high school as their parents can afford to pay for their school fees from the money they earned from RSE.”

Nell said that her personal experience of visiting the villages where most of her workers are from and seeing the changes to peoples’ lives is the best reward she and the company have ever had. “We wouldn’t like to try and survive without our RSE’s. They are also key to us being who we are and we value them highly.”

WORKERS FOR AONGATETE COOLSTORE LTD READY FOR ACTION

VANUATU SECONDMENT & MINISTERIAL VISIT TO NEW ZEALANDEarlier this year the Ministry hosted a delegation of officials from Vanuatu. The delegation was led by Vanuatu’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Honourable Charlot Salwai and included Mr Emiliano Buletari, First Political Advisor, Mr George Bogiri, Director General, Mr Lionel Kaluat, Commissioner of Labour, and Ms Julie Rereman, Senior Labour Officer.

The programme was developed by Lafaele Lupo, RSE: SPP Relationship Manager, in association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Internal Affairs Visits and Ceremonial Events office and included visits to employers and Vanuatu workers throughout the North and South Islands where they were hosted by Relationship Managers Tony Jensen and Pip Jamieson.

The programme included a visit to Wellington where officials met with New Zealand Immigration Minister, Hon Michael Woodhouse, and the head of Immigration New Zealand, Nigel Bickle, along with various meetings with officials from other government agencies.

The Vanuatu delegation expressed appreciation for the opportunity to see the RSE programme

in action, thanked employers and those involved in hosting them during their time in New Zealand.

The Vanuatu Commissioner of Labour, Lionel Kaluat, said Minister Salwai wished to acknowledge the employers and government officials who helped make the trip worthwhile and urged them to have trust and confidence in Vanuatu delivering consistent numbers of RSE workers in future years.

“Minister Salwai will continue to focus on the performance appraisal of Ni-Van workers and issues such as health and good hygiene practice. The Minister is more than satisfied with the SPP program and his visit and intends to commence implementing several practical suggestions when he reports back to Vanuatu government in their parliamentary meeting next month”, said Mr Kaluat.

VANUATU MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS HON CHARLOT SALWAI DEMONSTRATING HOW TO PICK APPLES PROPERLY

VANUATU MINISTER INTERNAL AFFAIRS HON CHARLOT SALWAI WITH HEAD OF INZ NIGEL BICKLE

VANUATU DELEGATION WITH MBIE STAFF

VANUATU DELEGATION VISIT THE APPLE ORCHARD FARMS IN HAWKES BAY

RSE IAU SIGNING FOR KIRIBATI & NAURUTwo RSE Inter-Agency Understanding (IAU) agreements were signed in March by the head of Immigration New Zealand.

Nigel Bickle and Taare Aukitino, Deputy Secretary for Kiribati’s Ministry of Labour and Human Resources Development, signed the IAU for Kiribati at a ceremony in Tarawa on 2 March.

This was followed the signing of Nauru’s IAU between Nigel Bickle and Michael Aroi, Secretary for Nauru’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The signing of these IAUs sets out arrangements for these countries inclusion in the RSE scheme and allows Kiribati and Nauru’s access to the Strengthening Pacific Partnership support to provide technical assistance to build official’s capacity to support operations and management of RSE.

Kiribati was one of the first Pacific countries to join RSE when it started in 2007 and has continued to be part of the programme. The IAU was first signed in 2007, followed by a review in 2009. Nauru was one of the original ‘kick-start’ states in 2007 with eighty Nauru nationals

PACER PLUS & THE RSE SCHEMEFiji hosted the 9th PACER Plus Negotiating Round and associated meetings in Nadi on 8–11 December 2014; RSE: SPP Relationship Manager, Lafaele Lupo, participated at the negotiations.

The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) is an umbrella agreement between members of the Pacific Forum Island Countries including Australia and New Zealand. It provides a framework for the future development of trade cooperation and sets out an outline of future development of trade and economic relations across the Forum region as a whole.

Parties involved in PACER Plus negotiations seek to promote gradual regional integration in a way that supports the economic development of the Forum Island Countries (FICs) and takes into account their differences. Regional labour mobility is key to the FICs.

According to Lafaele, the main negotiating objective of the FICs is to increase development assistance and labour market access and particularly to consider requests from Forum regions to New Zealand and Australia to expand and enhance seasonal worker programmes.

“FICs have expressed interest in creating and increasing opportunities for skilled Pacific Island workers. This can be achieved through closer alignment of training opportunities supported by the New Zealand Aid Programme and areas of labour market need.”

“At this meeting New Zealand outlined its proposal on labour mobility, Arrangement for Strengthening Pacific Labour Mobility Cooperation. This would operate as terms of reference for an annual regional meeting to support and move labour mobility initiatives forward.”

“The annual meeting could be a vehicle to strengthen the existing labour mobility schemes (New Zealand RSE policy, and Australian Seasonal Work Programme) and seek to identify and better utilise other opportunities for Pacific Island workers in the New Zealand and Australian labour markets.”

Further discussions on these labour mobility matters will occur at the 10th intercessional meeting scheduled to be held in Port Vila, Vanuatu in May; Manager Pacifica Labour and Skills, George Rarere, will be part of these discussions.

being employed in the horticulture industry. Since then this will be the first IAU signing for Nauru to re-connect with RSE and the New Zealand industry.

The RSE scheme allows the horticulture and viticulture industries to recruit workers from overseas – mostly from the Pacific Islands – for seasonal work when there are not enough New Zealand workers. Under the scheme employers can bring in up to 9,000 workers a year.

Mr Bickle says the signing of the agreement is a significant step for New Zealand to strengthen its relationship with Kiribati and is a key milestone for the Nauru government and will assist their understanding of RSE requirements and employers’ expectations.

Immigration New Zealand would like to congratulate the governments of Kiribati and Nauru on a very successful agreement which was formalised by this signing.

NIGEL BICKLE WITH OFFICIALS FROM MFAT AND KIRIBATI LABOUR AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

NIGEL BICKLE WITH SECRETARY MICHAEL AROI AT THE NAURU RSE INTER-AGENCY UNDERSTANDING SIGNING

FIJI DOMESTIC AWARENESS PROGRAMME The signing of the Inter-Agency Understanding in December 2014 allowed Fijian citizens to access funding under the SPP programme to provide technical assistance to build Fiji’s capacity to support the operation and management of the RSE policy.

In February 2014, the Ministry, in partnership with Fiji’s Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations, and accompanied by New Zealand employer Pick Hawkes Bay, held a domestic awareness programme in Fiji. The programme disseminated and conveyed key messages to ensure Fiji has a comprehensive understanding of RSE policy objectives and outcomes.

The primary audience was potential workers from the community of Waya Laialai, where the first 12 RSE workers were recruited by Pick Hawkes Bay (PHB).

RSE: SPP Relationship Manager, Lafaele Lupo, was accompanied by Pick Hawkes Bay staff including the Chairman, Jerf van Beek and General Manager, Anthony Rarere.

“Having PHB representatives in Fiji ensured the selection process for recruiting workers was transparent and relevant and that productive workers with excellent work ethics were selected” says Lafaele.

The collaboration with PHB is an example of the public and private sector partnership under the RSE programme that is instrumental in the success of the RSE. It also shows to the Government of Fiji that the New Zealand Government has accommodated its responsibility in the Inter-Agency Understanding agreement to promote Fiji as a viable destination for recruiting productive and quality workers.

The awareness programme was well organised and facilitated by Fiji’s Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations and supported by the New Zealand High Commission and Immigration New Zealand Branch in Suva.

FIJI DOMESTIC AWARENESS WITH LAFAELE LUPO, RSE: SPP RELATIONSHIP MANAGER

FIJI DOMESTIC AWARENESS PROGRAMME WITH CHAIRMAN OF PICK HAWKES BAY INC, JERF VAN BEEK

FIRST GROUP OF FIJI RSE WORKERS ARRIVE IN NEW ZEALAND Following the domestic awareness programme, 12 RSE Fijian workers have arrived in New Zealand to work with Pick Hawkes Bay Incorporated in Hawkes Bay.

The first placement of Fijian workers involved a pilot of 12 workers with Pick Hawke’s Bay with a further pilot of 12 workers into Eastpack in March to coincide with the kiwifruit harvesting. In Nelson Seifrieds is also looking towards an initial placement of six Fijian workers for grape pruning in May.

“It is superb to have our first group of Fijian workers in NZ. The next seven months will be interesting and we will be working with

employers to assess the full entry of Fiji into the RSE scheme.”, says George Rarere, Manager Pacifica Labour and Skills, INZ.

“The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will undertake an assessment at the end of the year (2015) with assistance from New Zealand employers who employ the Fijian workers in the pilot.”

“The assessment will consider workers’ productivity, incidents involving Fijian workers while in New Zealand and Fijian officials meeting timelines regarding the processing of worker applications”.

THE SMILES FROM THE FIRST BATCH OF WORKERS FROM FIJI EMPLOYED BY PICK HAWKES BAY WITH HEAD OF IMMIGRATION NZ NIGEL BICKLE

VAKAMEASINA UPDATEDuring 2014 a new initiative under Vakameasina was developed with a view to adding value to the education and training opportunities offered to RSE workers arriving each season. All Vakameasina courses include numeracy, literacy and digital literacy. Fruition, who are contracted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), ensures this occurs within the delivery of learner selected topics.

The new course, called Awhi (with nurturing, supporting and guiding undertones), is aimed at preparing workers who have aspirations to start businesses or engage in community projects when they return to their homes at the end of the season. The emphasis of Awhi will be on the acquisition of knowledge and skills for preparing business plans and leading groups in commercial or community focused activities.

Whilst Vakameasina courses are largely learner driven in terms of content, the Awhi courses will be structured so those intending to set up for businesses will have developed a business plan, and community programmes will conclude with a formalised plan for how it will be implemented.

Sandy Scarrow, managing director of Fruition Horticulture, believes Awhi is a more targeted approach to meeting specific needs of RSE workers and sees it as providing needed skills for those wishing to set up businesses and provide benefit to communities in the Pacific Nations from which they come.

Groups or individuals with a business idea or community project in mind are encouraged to contact Fruition Horticulture, sandyscarrow@fruition.net.nz to see if they would be eligible to participate in Awhi.

REMITTANCE PILOT PROJECT UPDATESince hosting a working group of key stakeholders in October last year, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is now focused on collecting and collating earnings and remittance data. This information will help underpin the economic and development impact assessment of RSE in Tonga and Samoa – the geographical focus of this pilot. Importantly, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has agreed to extend the reporting period for the project so earnings and remittance records can be collected for the entire 2014/15 season. A preliminary report on findings should be developed by June this year.

Matt Gibbs, heading the pilot, says, “We have been getting great support from our cohort of Hawkes Bay employers and participating RSE teams. In November we began collecting records of the dollar amounts individual Tongan and Samoan workers are sending home –

including electronic transactions, phone card top-ups, and cash sent via other sources eg, carried across the border. Worker team leaders collect this information from team members during their weekly team meeting on a Sunday and send it to us the following day via their orchard site managers. In an effort to help accuracy, team leaders use the remittance advice receipts provided to the workers by money transfer operators. We think this system will provide a greater level of accuracy as opposed to asking workers to retrospectively estimate how much they remitted at the end of the season as a single total – as has been the case with other studies here and overseas”.

At present weekly records from 460 individual workers are being received and it is hoped that number will get to over 500 once the picking season begins in earnest.

“Although still early, we are already generating some interesting results. For example, since late-November last year 320 Tongan and Samoan workers from two different employers have remitted a combined total of approximately NZD$496,000. Workers are sending amounts anywhere between NZD$10 and $2,000 at a time. Whilst encouraging to see so much money being returned to families/ communities back home, the fact that some workers are remitting such small amounts (and regularly) means they are already losing a significant percentage of their earnings in fees and transaction charges. This is especially so when you consider the minimum fee to send any amount home is approximately NZD$10 + exchange variances. These issues will be areas that we focus on as the study progresses.”

RSE: SPP CALENDAR OF EVENTS

RSE: SPP Event Location Date

Kiribati RSE Inter-Agency Understanding signing Kiribati 2 March

Nauru RSE Inter-Agency Understanding signing Nauru 3–4 March

Samoa website & database development and training Samoa 9–13 March

Tonga Kiribati RSE Inter-Agency Understanding signing Tonga 14–17 April

10th PCER Plus Inter Vanuatu 6–9 May

Papua New Guinea Assessment Visit Papua New Guinea 16–23 May

Fiji secondment visit New Zealand 24–30 May

Vanuatu website & database development and training Vanuatu May

Tuvalu RSE Inter-Agency Understanding signing Tuvalu June

Solomon Islands Nauru RSE Inter-Agency Understanding signing

Solomon Islands June

Tuvalu website & database development and training Tuvalu June

RSE Remittance Pilot Report due New Zealand 30 June

The table provides a summary of the key events for the RSE: SPP Team for the next three months. Please note that these may change depending on the availability of key contacts both in New Zealand and in Pacific states.

To keep track on RSE: SPP movements as they happen, make sure you visit the web page www.dol.govt.nz/initiatives/strategy/rse/ strengthening/

If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions for improving this newsletter or news and events to include in future editions please contact Angie Enoka, Senior Advisor SPP on angie.enoka@mbie.govt.nz or + 64 4 896 5254.