KEY POINTS:
A Government programme to attract seasonal workers from Pacific Islands to New Zealand is making the right connections, but it is not yet clear if it is making the island economies richer.
The Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme startred in April last year, and allows up to 5000
seasonal workers to be employed each year to plant, maintain, harvest and pack crops.
The goal was to solve a labour shortage in New Zealand and help the development of Pacific Island nations because workers send money home and gain work experience.
A survey of 450 households in Tonga and Vanuatu by John Gibson and Halahingano Rohorua of Waikato Management School and David McKenzie of the World Bank has found the programme has succeeded in reaching poorer, less well-educated migrants from Tonga.
"While our research in Vanuatu shows no substantial difference in wealth between RSE migrants and other groups, in both Tonga and Vanuatu males with lower levels of education are more likely to apply for RSE than are those with more education.
"And that's good news for the potential ability of the initiative to improve development outcomes in the Pacific," Professor Gibson said.
RSE attracted Tongans who are significantly poorer than others, less likely to be in current employment and have lower schooling than those likely to apply for other migration options, said Dr McKenzie.
But he said there were barriers to participating in RSE and the scheme required substantial effort by those involved.
High airfares were a problem and some employers pay half and offer finance to cover the other half.
It costs about $1350 to get to New Zealand from Vanuatu, which is a lot of money for people whose average monthly expenditure is only $124.
Workers in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands also face high transport costs that can limit participation in the scheme.
Research is continuing into how well the scheme works and into what wealth effects it has in Pacific Island nations.
The scheme reaches the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Samoa and Vanuatu.
Vanuatu provided 1600 workers, which was the largest number of workers in the first year. Tonga provided 700 workers.
The scheme was introduced after allegations that up to 80 per cent of contractors supplying seasonal labour had been operating outside of the law.
Employers in the scheme can fly in workers from the Pacific Islands for seven months of the year, but must ensure the quality of their housing and take responsibility for overstayers.
- NZPA