Initial ruling on foreign crews stays

Associate Immigration Minister Damien O'Connor has stuck by his decision to allow a Christchurch fishing firm to hire foreign crew just months after it laid off nearly 50 New Zealand workers.

Mr O'Connor gave Independent Fisheries the green light to recruit last week but put the decision on ice on Wednesday while he reviewed the case after learning of the redundancies.

Yesterday, the minister was satisfied the decision made had been the correct one.

He said he was confident it was not a case of replacing New Zealand workers with foreigners.

Privately owned Independent applied for permission to hire an Indonesian crew for the Independent 1 in December following the October redundancies.

The minister said the process that allowed foreigners to work New Zealand-owned vessels was robust and did not hinder opportunities for Kiwis.

"The Government's focus continues to be on improving wages and conditions for New Zealanders working in the fishing industry," he said.

"Labour Department officials met just this week with the industry to discuss ways to further this goal."

- NZPA