The participating countries need to demonstrate they can meet the criteria for the new programme, which includes a guaranteed return flight home at the end of the season.
The Pacific countries also have to put in place plans to repatriate any other workers who are still in New Zealand from the previous season and are ready to return home.
Chief Executive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Tonga, which manages the country s interaction with RSE, Fotu Fisiiahi said they had very limited quarantine facilities and coulf only repatriate 248 people every three weeks due to the capacity of the quarantine buildings.
New Zealand: Small operators step up to process Nelson s damaged apple crop
Small juicing operations are doing their best to help in the aftermath of the destructive Boxing Day hailstorm in Motueka, that damaged thousands of tonnes of apples. According to figures from New Zealand Apples and Pears, Nelson s crop was down by 36 per cent due to the damage from the hail.
While many apple crops throughout the region are no longer fit for export, there is a surplus of fruit which could still be salvaged, including for juicing. However, late last year the main juicing plant in the region was shut down, with owners Cedenco Foods packing up the operation and moving it to the Hawke s Bay.
Excellence of Hawke s Bay fruitgrowers celebrated at awards night nzherald.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nzherald.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
However, late last year the main juicing plant in the region was shut down, with owners Cedenco Foods packing up the operation and moving it to the Hawke s Bay. In Richmond, juicing business Mad Melon are ramping up their production to try to tackle some of the demand.
Martin De Ruyter/Stuff
Mad Melon owner Jamin Brown is scaling up his fruit juice business to process more apples in the wake of the Boxing Day hailstorm. Owner Jamin Brown said the business was planning to process 40,000 litres of apples per week, on top of their normal watermelon juicing operation. Brown said the company got a big response from orchardists after offering their services on Facebook.
Immigration New Zealand has told working visa holders that their visas have been extended.
Supplied
French woman Marion, who is picking kiwifruit in Hawke’s Bay, says she is unable to look for other work until the online work entitlements system is updated. However, Marion said that in a phone call with Immigration, the adviser could not explain what her work rights were. Marion was told to tell prospective employers to write to Immigration to check her status. While she was able to get work picking kiwifruit for a company that had hired her in the past and were comfortable waiting for visa confirmation, Marion was unable to apply for other jobs because her status was unclear.