Union fears law change will give NZ entertainment jobs to foreigners

Actor and president of NZ Actors’ Equity, Jennifer Ward-Lealand. Photo / Supplied

A leading Kiwi actor says immigration changes making it easier for overseas entertainment workers to be employed here will bring the curtain down on the careers of industry locals.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand, the president of NZ Actors' Equity, condemns changes that will remove the requirement of guild or union referrals for actors coming here for 14 days' work or less, and for those who are part of an official co-production.

"The new process will provide carte blanche for taxpayer-supported productions to engage non-New Zealand performers for any and every role. This is contrary to the Government's stated election policy of Kiwis first," she said.

Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman insists the changes are necessary to support the sector's growth because the existing policy is "outdated".

But Ward-Lealand, an established actor whose extensive career has ranged from TV's Shortland Street to playing Rita Angus on stage, said it will result in job losses not just for actors, but also technicians and screen directors.

"In our industry there just aren't that many jobs around, which is why we have to fight for every job that comes by," she said.

"As a group, we're experiencing effective unemployment rates of 95 per cent; this new policy is just going to push that up."

Ward-Lealand said employers in the entertainment industry should have the same obligations as those in other industries here to test the employment market before being allowed to bring in foreign workers.

Under the new system, a "silent approval" process is being introduced so that production companies will no longer need to seek guild or union approval here through a letter of non-objection.

"The immigration process that's been in place for decades was there to ensure New Zealand performers were provided with reasonable opportunities to work on all film and television productions," Ward-Lealand said.

She said 14 days or less would account for most jobs in film and television, including lead roles.

The local screen industry employs around 6700 people and is worth over $2.8 billion annually.

Dr Coleman said changes were needed as issues with the existing process, which had been in place for 20 years, were putting overseas investments in the New Zealand screen industry at risk.

"We need immigration policies that ensure key workers can get here with minimal fuss so that New Zealand remains an attractive destination for productions," he said.

Over the past 30 months, the unions had disputed 14 of the 4800 applications for screen industry work, but Dr Coleman said the Government still went ahead and granted visas in all those cases.

"In short, we are just removing a redundant, bureaucratic process which only served to make New Zealand a less attractive place for the screen and entertainment industry to do business," he said.

The new policy will start from March next year, and will be reviewed after 18 months.

Labour's immigration spokeswoman, Ruth Dyson, has also hit out at the changes.

"We have an immigration process that's supposed to give transparency and protect jobs for Kiwis. Jonathan Coleman has turfed that out the window," she said.

"He's riding roughshod over due process and completely undermining what is a critical and internationally recognised local industry."