Hastings court: Facebook group recruits Indonesians for horticulture work

Gurpreet Singh and his company JJ 2016 Ltd each face four charges under the Immigration Act. Photo NZME

An Indonesian hospitality worker earning the equivalent of $8 a day in Bali was recruited to work in New Zealand by a Facebook group saying he could earn $3000 a month, a court has been told.

Three Indonesian men have now given evidence in an Immigration Act trial being held in the Hastings District Court.

They have testified that they were all recruited in Bali, their home province, by a man named Rio, who charged more than $7000 each to bring them to New Zealand with the promise of high wages in horticulture.

All three ended up working in Hawke's Bay kiwifruit orchards and vineyards while living at a house in Pakipaki with other foreign workers, many from South America.

The court has heard that the Indonesians were on visitor visas and did not have valid work permits.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has brought four charges each against Gurpreet Singh of Hastings and his labour supply company JJ 2016 Ltd under the Immigration Act.

Yesterday, the first day of the judge-alone trial, witness Anak Agung Adnyana said up to 25 people were living at the single-bathroom house, and he was charged $110 a week to share a room with five others.

Defence counsel Scott Jefferson has challenged this, suggesting to witnesses that the house had six bedrooms, two bathrooms, plus another toilet outside, and housed only 15 to 16 people.

Second witness Pande Komang Wardiana said today only one of the bathrooms was generally used and he was not aware of an outside toilet. He and the third Indonesian man, Kadek Krishna Diputra, said about 20 people were living at the house.

The men have told Judge Russell Collins that they were paid in cash and did not receive payslips when they worked from the Pakipaki house in late 2019.

The amount the men earned in the vineyards depended on how much work they did. Wardiana said he sometimes earned $70 a day. Diputra said the most he earned was $500 in a week.

Asked if it was a good or a bad place to work, Wardiana said through an interpreter that "it was better than in Indonesia".

Jefferson questioned Diputra about the Indonesian-language Facebook group through which he was recruited, about having to meet Rio in a supermaket, and about being made to make a separate trip to Hong Kong before he come to New Zealand. He asked if these things made Diputra suspicious. He said no.

The men travelled to New Zealand on visitor visas and with return tickets and accommodation paid for by Rio.

Diputra agreed with Jefferson that the Indonesians had talked among themselves about how what they were doing might be illegal. He confirmed he had been asked by the immigration official at the airport about the purpose of his visit. He told the official that it was to go to a job seminar.

He agreed that it was a lie, and apologised. But he said Rio had told them that they could change their visa once they got to New Zealand.

Wardiana earlier told the court that in December 2019, the three Indonesians and a countryman went to Immigration NZ to ask about obtaining work visas. They were told they were working illegally and they could do so no longer.

They then left the Pakipaki property and moved to the Bay of Plenty.

Shortly afterwards, they were given special visas to remain in and work in New Zealand. Wardiana confirmed to Jefferson that that was so they could help Immigration NZ with the case before the court.

The trial continues.