Damien O'Connor: Agriculture Minister as 1600 workers given border exemptions to fill rural job vacancies
An acknowledgement from the Government it's a challenge to fill job vacancies in rural areas.
It's making it easier for dairy, meat processing and forestry workers to come here from overseas.
An extra 1600 or so workers will be given border exemptions from today.
Agriculture Minister, Damien O'Connor, told Mike Hosking that farmers have made efforts to get young Kiwis into these roles, but not everyone wants to work in rural areas.
He says there are gaps, and these foreign workers will fill them.
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