A patient waits to receive his Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Manurewa, south Auckland. Photo / AP
A patient waits to receive his Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Manurewa, south Auckland. Photo / AP
EDITORIAL:
There will be much interest in the Government's planned "re-jig" of immigration policy, set to be outlined before the Budget.
It will be another breadcrumb on the lengthening trail of clues towards the country reopening. And it might also be a hint of where the Government hopes to headgenerally.
In the past year there hasn't been a lot of detail and clear signposts on what exactly constitutes building back better from the pandemic in New Zealand.
With the broad border policy, our ability to just pluck people and supplies from anywhere to plug gaps in an instant fix is gone. Longer-term structural changes require debate, planning and investment.
Last week Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern signalled a key immigration tweak. "We want to shift the balance away from low-skilled, low-paid work towards attracting high-skilled migrants and addressing genuine skill shortages in order to improve productivity."
Ardern also mentioned a high vaccination level here would be important for economic recovery and to "reconnect to the world".
Combined with previous official comments about focusing on high-value travellers, this points to a more selective view of incomers from outside.
In this vision, New Zealand is a highly desirable location with unique advantages to lure skilled workers, investors and bigger spenders who can create employment opportunities.
The Government will be hoping that a year of the country being lauded overseas for good governance of the pandemic will hold into early next year when reopening could gather pace.
A patient waits to receive his Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Manurewa, south Auckland. Photo / AP
For now, the picture isn't so scenic.
Countries in the Northern Hemisphere are enjoying bounce backs with successful vaccine rollouts. They have a head start on tourism with their looming summer season. The Asia-Pacific generally is in a tight spot. A number of countries in the region are struggling both with low vaccination rates and rises in coronavirus cases. We are keeping the virus out but have months of vaccinations to go, and some uncertainty about the promised dose supplies.
Former chief science adviser Peter Gluckman pointed out to the PM that our Covid-free-zone was losing its lustre. "The window of opportunity for New Zealand to attract talent is evaporating rather rapidly as the developed world becomes vaccinated."
New Zealand and Australia can at least point to the transtasman travel bubble as a first tourism breakthrough. Minus any MIQ calamities, we could go into our own summer with a large proportion of the population vaccinated - with the A-lister of coronavirus shots from Pfizer/BioNTech.
Helping the country's pitch, for some people, will be its remoteness and small population size, outdoors, and the rise in distance working. The pandemic has resulted in a lot of people reassessing what they are doing.
But there are also unknowns and entrenched hurdles.
What proportion of New Zealand returnees will stick around once the threat eases overseas? Will Australia become even more of a draw for local talent than usual as the nearest big "safe" country with consistently higher wages? If the emphasis is more on high-skilled workers, will Kiwis predominantly fill the lower-skilled jobs? Where are our new world projects to tap local talent and keep it here?
The Government will eventually get to the point of allowing people proven to be vaccinated with approved doses through the border without quarantine.
Our long-term problems surrounding infrastructure, housing, health, having a population size and workforce not quite big enough to get major improvements done and future-proofing against other crises are much harder to sort out.
