Workers for all seasons? Issues from New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program

In April 2007, New Zealand introduced the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program, which allows NZ employers to recruit overseas workers from the Pacific and South East Asia for seasonal work in horticulture and viticulture. The Australian government says it is closely monitoring New Zealand’s scheme to decide whether Australia should create its own Pacific seasonal worker program. Prime Minister Rudd is expected make an announcement on the issue at the next meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum in Niue in August 2008. The New Zealand and Pacific island governments, while acknowledging early administrative shortfalls, argue that the RSE program has been a great success and this paper acknowledges the many positive outcomes to date. But it also identifies significant problems arising from a lack of engagement with unions, the community sector and Pacific diaspora communities. These difficulties cannot be dismissed as teething problems. If Australia is serious about learning from the NZ experience then similar problems can be avoided by designing a scheme that pays more attention to the welfare of Pacific workers and their home communities. The first year of RSE program has highlighted the need for increased effort on support services and 'pastoral care' for seasonal workers, and also the potential for linking seasonal work programs to broader development assistance to maximise the outcomes of increased remittance flows into Pacific villages and rural communities. Over 20 per cent of workers came from South-East Asia rather than the Pacific in the first year of the RSE program, even though the New Zealand government has a stated preference for recruiting Pacific islanders. It will be important for Australia to develop clear policy on why seasonal worker schemes should be targeted only at small island developing states in our neighbourhood, in order to offer opportunities for development and employment in Pacific Island nations with restricted economic options. [Executive summary]