Tim Dower: We aren't dangling a big enough carrot for our jobs

More questions than answers, for me, on the residency carrot finally being dangled in a desperate attempt to plug gaps in the health sector.

Winter's looming, we're worried about another wave of Covid and all the other seasonal sniffles and the health system is already crying out for staff.

So, from now, another 32 job roles go on the green list. If you've got a qualification, you're in.

Have we left it too late? It looks like it.

Have all the decent people looking to move already gone somewhere else? Probably.

And by opening the gates so wide now, do we expose ourselves to the risk of charlatans and fraudsters sneaking through the system? Maybe.

Can the Immigration Department cope? Will these people be checked out as thoroughly as we'd normally expect? Probably not.

But most of all, when you look down the list of occupations we're trying to fill I want to know why our own people don't want these jobs.

Obviously we don't do enough to encourage our own people to train up for these good, well-paying jobs.

Roles like midwifery, nursing, lab scientist and, of course, doctors were already on the green list - why don't New Zealanders want jobs like that?

Now we've added counsellors, dental technicians, dieticians, optometrists and even hospital play therapists to the list.

Why don't New Zealanders want jobs like those?

Immigration Minister Michael Wood has some questions to answer.

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