Swoop on illegal workers stymies kiwifruit harvest

1.00pm

A crackdown on illegal pickers has caused dozens to flee the western Bay of Plenty, putting the lucrative kiwifruit harvest in jeopardy.

Police and immigration staff this week snared 10 illegal pickers and 12 last month, mainly from overseas, in roadside checks.

The tough line has sent many fleeing to Hawke's Bay, where they can get short-term working visas.

Now angry packers and orchardists fear fruit will rot on the vines at the peak of the season, and are calling for similar short-term work visas to be issued in their region.

The Bay of Plenty has more than 2000 growers, who last year brought $209 million into the area. They are thought to have 74 million trays on their vines this year.

Te Puke contractor Scott McIntosh said the crackdown had brought the industry to a halt at the peak of the harves t.

"I have owners screaming out for me to get gangs in there to pick fruit but I just don't have the workforce."

The 24-year kiwifruit veteran was unable to find enough workers locally and said he had two choices -- break the law or pull out.

"We have people here on holiday who are willing to work and they have valid tickets out of the country, all that needs to be done is a visa rubber stamped," he said.

"We need urgent action on this. It's not something we can sit around and talk about for days on end. The crop needs to be picked now."

If temporary work visas were issued he would be able to find 1500 workers immediately.

The roadside checks have also delayed legitimate workers for up to two hours.

Seeka Kiwifruit Industry managing director Tony de Farias said wet weather had put his company behind schedule.

"The kiwifruit harvest is a race against time and it's crunch time."

New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers chairman John Allen said there were less disruptive ways to flush out illegal workers.

"I don't condone the use of illegal workers but this kind of activity is a disincentive to legal workers coming here if they think they are going to be harassed."

But the Immigration Service, working with police, have vowed to continue, describing this week's haul as "the tip of the iceberg".

Spokesman Brett Solvander said the arrested workers would be deported. They included Indian, Brazilian, Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian and Hungarian nationals.

"They are on temporary visitors' permits which have expired and they are here illegally. Contractors should not be employing these people," he said.

Operations manager Steve Jones said special work permits could be issued within two days if there were no local workers available. But he did not believe there was a labour shortage in the Te Puke area.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES