Nicola Willis, Erica Stanford and Louise Upston hold announcement about economic growth. Video / NZ Herald
Opinion by Peter Murray
Peter Murray was a political adviser in Tony Blair’s administration and worked in government affairs and communications in the UK. He is a senior adviser at Sherson Willis in NZ.
The scheme will be bolted on to the existing visitor visa scheme, meaning people visiting on an ordinary tourist visa can continue working for their foreign employer.
Visitors from a visa-waiver country such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, Argentina, Israel and the European Union will be able to work as part of their visa.
I’ve stopped looking at news from home in Britain. Watching the BBC has become too depressing. The last time I innocently channel-hopped, I saw Sir Keir Starmer - Britain’s fifth Prime Minister in five years - bemoan that the country had become too comfortable with “managed decline”.For Brits, the decline is real, but the managed part, not so much.
It pains me to say this, but the UK is a shambles. The country has lost control of its finances, with national debt at 100-105% of GDP. It can’t keep its people safe, with knife crime up 80% in a decade. And it can’t feed itself, with 40% of daily consumption shipped in from abroad.
With an energy blackout only narrowly avoided this winter by the Government scrambling to import record amounts of foreign electricity, the lights, in a very literal sense, are close to going out on Britain.
Which is why, with every call I make home to friends and family, one phrase is repeated: “You’re lucky you left when you did”. And they’re right.
A year on since arriving in Auckland to start my new life, New Zealand has lived up to its promise.
I know praise will make Kiwis blush. You are not Australian. But bear with me.
New Zealand competes hard for tourists, but not talent.
Kiwis are a ridiculously friendly people, obsessed less by what they can buy, and more by the beauty that surrounds them. There’s a sense of community in everyday interactions that is foreign to Londoners like me. And, more than anything, there’s a general sense of a country – and a society – that is, for the most part, at ease with itself.
These are some of the reasons New Zealand leads the OECD’s Better Life Index, comes out top of the World Happiness Report and is the third most searched-for destination for people around the world looking to emigrate.
This isn’t to say New Zealand is without its challenges. Every country has them, but at least here there’s a sense they are manageable.
Whatever your political persuasion, you can’t deny the Luxon Government’s ability to define the country’s problems. Whether it is on the right path to fix them, only time will tell, but unlike the UK, New Zealand has a plan and some momentum.
Labour's Sir Keir Starmer is the UK's fifth Prime Minister in as many years.
What’s surprised me is that, for the first time in my life, I’m ahead of the curve.
Around 23% of working adults in the UK have said they are considering moving abroad in the next five years, with 12% contemplating emigration in the next 12 months.
If Kiwis were not so modest, they would see the opportunity this presents.
This week Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis relaxed the visa rules for “digital nomads”. Foreign visitors can now work from New Zealand for up to three months. It’s a smart move, and good for the tourism sector, but there’s a much bigger prize to be had.
Briton Peter Murray moved to New Zealand a year ago and say he's enjoying the quality of life, including visiting Kaikōura.
New Zealand competes hard for tourists, but not talent.
With 80,200 Kiwis of working age leaving the country last year isn’t it time to offer professionals who are feeling the push from home more of a gentle pull towards New Zealand?
The hurdle is New Zealand’s clunky immigration system, which is ripe for reform.
At present, civil servants in Wellington decide what Kiwi businesses need and which employees they can hire.
If a business identifies a need, but the role is not on the government-approved list, they have to undertake a costly three-month process, first to get accredited and then have their hire approved.
Faced with such a wait, and no guarantee of success, most businesses give up at the starting line, and who could blame them? It’s why 90% of Kiwi businesses have vacancies and 71% of those are for skilled roles.
New Zealand could stop shooting itself in the foot by giving business more flexibility to hire the talent they need, while still insisting on only the best talent the world has to offer. Trust me, they are knocking on your door.
Let Dubai hoover up professionals with the lure of low taxes, and Australia woo those who want year-long sunshine.
New Zealand is about quality of life.
Offering a home to professionals who share that value will benefit us all.
