Ni-Vanuatu seasonal workers in NZ prepare for cyclone rebuild

Transcript

Horticulture New Zealand says it is working with its Ni-Vanuatu seasonal workers to provide them with skills and resources for when they return home and face the rebuild following Cyclone Pam.

More than 2,500 workers from Vanuatu are employed in New Zealand's horticulture and viticulture industries as part of the Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme.

Its national coordinator for seasonal labour, Jerf Van Beek says only about 130 people decided to return to Vanuatu after the storm hit.

He spoke to Jemma Brackebush.

JERF VAN BEEK: We are actually really amazed by the level of responsibility of the workers themselves understanding that rebuilding will require funding, will require money, and therefore the vast majority has chosen to stay on and work, and we as employers really support that and at times have even supported them to actually make more work available for them where we can when we actually are short of workers.

JEMMA BRACKEBUSH: So I guess was there obviously, understandably, the initial shock and then it kind of kicked in; 'well, you know, I kind of can't get that much if I go home with no money'. Is that kind of what happened?

JvB: Yeah, that kind of happened. As an industry we put the message out to our RSE employers who employ from Vanuatu to really ramp up the pastoral care for their ni-Van people and to really spend time with them, drink cups of coffee or tea, have the odd barbeque and just talk through. The raw emotion initially would always bring up 'hey I need to go home, I need to go and help my family and my community,' but talking it through as the reports came through and they decided that maybe it's better to stay in New Zealand and earn that so important money to actually rebuild their lives back home again.

JB: When are they likely to go home, when does this seasonal work stop?

JvB: Vanuatu being the biggest group of people under the RSE scheme, they more or less come and go all year round depending on which season we're talking about, but we have a large group present at the moment in New Zealand to help with the apple harvest and the grape harvest and they've still got close to a month, 5 weeks, 6 weeks to go and this is actually the real peak of our season so they can see the fruit hanging on the trees so they know what they possibly can earn by actually staying and continuing to work in New Zealand.

JB: I mean in relative terms, how much money can these people who are coming over from Vanuatu earn compared to staying in Vanuatu and continuing to earn money over there, is it significant?

JvB: It's either not earning anything or earning from New Zealand. Most people that are selected don't actually have paid employment back home. They are subsistence farmers but they're very good at growing crops and do sell some of those crops and some work at the hospital in the area. The range is from NZ$5,000 - $6,000 to $11,000-$12,000 and there is exceptions amongst them that earn a lot more. Roundabout the duration is sort 5 to 5-and-a-half months while they're here.