Sydney: New Zealand must rely on foreign workers because too many locals are on drugs or “won’t turn up for work”, its prime minister has said. Defending the nation’s record migrant intake, John Key said New Zealand needed to import workers — even for low-skilled jobs — because not all locals were suitable, or prepared to move to less desirable areas. He said the government had wanted to reduce its importation of workers from Pacific island nations to pick fruit, but farmers did not want to rely on the local unemployed population. “Go and ask the employers, and they will say some of these people won’t pass a drug test, some of these people won’t turn up for work, some of these people will claim they have health issues later on,” he told Radio New Zealand.
“So it’s not to say there aren’t great people who transition to work; they do, but it’s equally true that they’re also living in the wrong place, or they just can’t muster what is required to actually work.”
Official figures showed a record 69,000 people moved to the nation of 4.7 million people last year — and 200,000 people received temporary work visas — prompting calls from the opposition to limit migration to protect local workers. Richard Wagstaff, a union leader, said Key’s attack on local unemployed people was a “political stunt”. “Demonising New Zealand workers and not giving them a shot at these jobs and creating reasonable jobs is the wrong way to go,” he said. However, Leon Stallard, a fruit farmer in Hawke’s Bay on the North Island, said he supported Mr Key’s comments. “I would say everything that John Key said, yes, is true,” he told Radio New Zealand. “I mean, labour is one of the most stressful parts of this business, other than the weather If I need 30 people, I get 40 people, locals, because on average I only get 30 every day. They just don’t turn up, you just can’t depend on it.” In February, a small town medical practice made headlines after it offered a £190,000 (Dh932,741) annual salary for a junior doctor to join but admitted that it had received no applicants in two years.