More migrants no solution to labour shortages says Swain

By STEPHEN COOK

The Government has no plans to relax immigration laws to help ease labour shortages.

Immigration Minister Paul Swain said yesterday the long-term answer was training more New Zealanders - not bringing in more migrants.

Immigration should never be used as a cheap form of training, he said.

What was needed was a long-term industry strategy, similar to those the Government had introduced in other industries.

Construction industry leaders want the Government to ease immigration policy and to look at incentives to encourage New Zealand builders and labourers on Australian building sites to return home.

The construction industry faces a major skills shortage and says unless the Government helps, some major projects could be in jeopardy.

Auckland faces a shortage of at least 3000 construction workers, and already there are doubts the industry can complete $3.2 billion of work over the next two years.

Mr Swain said the Government was addressing short and long-term labour shortages and could address urgent requests individually.

He acknowledged skills were in short supply but said the long-term answer to the problem was in the hands of New Zealanders.

While there would be no wholesale easing of immigration laws, increasing numbers of applicants with trades skills, including carpenters and builders, would be eligible to apply for residency under the skilled migrant category as the selection point continued to drop, he said.

It was now at 115 points.

National's immigration spokesman, Wayne Mapp, said the key to addressing shortages within the construction industry was lowering personal tax rates.

To encourage New Zealanders to return home from places such as Australia, the local environment had to be made more attractive, said Dr Mapp.

He agreed with Mr Swain that New Zealanders were critical to easing industry shortages, suggesting the Government needed to work harder at training people who were on the unemployment benefit.

"Let's look at those people first and secondly let's make New Zealand more desirable for Kiwis overseas."

Dr Mapp said the Government could consider the option of issuing work permits to skilled migrants, but only for specific periods.

That would allow them to work on projects such as those which needed to be completed in Auckland.