Hangi held to celebrate Hawke's Bay's RSE workers

A massive hangi was held on Easter Monday to celebrate and farewell Hawke's Bay's RSE workers, the seasonal workers who help with seasonal work such as fruit picking.

Despite the rain, over 400 Bostock workers gathered at the house of Ngāti Kahungunu chairman, Ngahiwi Tomoana, with Easter Monday one of the last times all the workers are available for a get-together before heading back to their home countries.

The RSE scheme (recognised seasonal employer) brings seasonal workers to New Zealand, primarily from the Pacific.

Workers from Vanuatu preforming before the hangi was lifted. Photo / Paul Taylor

I Nyoman Budayasa , the team leader from Indonesia, said he had never eaten hangi before, so it was a new experience.

The team leader from the Solomon Islands, Patterson Piva , said it was a good opportunity to come together with other workers from around the Asia-Pacific region.

"It's very good to come together as a family, we are all from different islands, but when we all come here, we become a family."

The first hangi being lifted. Photo / Paul Taylor

The five team leaders (one for each country Bostock hires from), all said it was a good opportunity to make money and send it back to their family, although being away for months at a time could be hard.

"The hard thing is being away from family, but that is the only thing," Budayasa said.

He said he felt lucky to be able to come to New Zealand, as the positions are highly contested in Indonesia.

The team leader from Vanuatu, Emmanuel Roslyn said being part of the RSE scheme had helped him and his family improve their living standard.

"Back home, there are a lot us that want to come over."

Bostock's labour development and resource manager Vikki Garrett said without RSE workers they would be unable to harvest their crop.

"This is our way of saying thank you to them for contributing to being a reliable source of labour and we enjoy them being a reliable source of labour."

She said it was a chance to show the workers a bit of Māori culture.

"And we enjoy them giving us a taste of their culture."

Bostock hires workers from Indonesia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Samoa.