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Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced an increase in the number of seasonal workers who can come to New Zealand to work in the horticulture and viticulture industry under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.

The current cap will be increased by 1,000 from 9,500 to 10,500 RSE workers for the 2016-17 season.

Mr Woodhouse says the horticulture and viticulture industry is New Zealand’s fourth largest export industry, producing almost $5 billion in exports.

Eligibility for housing assistance and student allowances could be established more accurately under information sharing proposals released for public consultation today by Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse.

Information sharing already exists between IRD and MSD, but the Government is proposing to group the various current information sharing agreements into one.

The proposals also extend the use of information to enable MSD to:

Changes to tax laws will clarify that payments to foster carers for the care of children and young people cannot be treated as income and are not subject to income tax, say Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse.

Foster carers receive a care allowance from the government to help meet the needs of a child or young person such as board, personal items, pocket money, and additional reasonable costs.

Employers will now have to make lower-skilled employment opportunities available to New Zealanders before supporting a work visa to fill the vacancy, says Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse.

Changes came into force this week which mean that employers considering hiring a migrant for a lower-skilled role will now be required to engage with Work and Income at the beginning of the process to ensure there is no New Zealander available to do the job first.

A new streamlined labour market test process in Queenstown will benefit employers trying to fill low-skilled vacancies, say Social Development Minister Anne Tolley and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse.