From restaurant wait-staff to retail assistants and hotel cleaners, it’s these people who keep the town ticking and support local businesses as they strive to succeed. 

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, staff tend to come and go, leaving many businesses continually looking for workers and attempting to keep their businesses adequately staffed.

Queenstown’s appetite for workers is voracious and as the fastest-growing region in the country, that hunger is unlikely to be satiated any time soon.

That’s why government support for businesses is crucial as they search for adequate staff. Unfortunately in Queenstown, businesses have been disappointed by the Department of Labour after promises of fast-track work permits for foreign workers have fallen flat.

The proposal was a good one and promised to ease the resort’s labour crisis. Unfortunately, it appears to have exacerbated problems – with some even claiming that foreign workers are leaving town because of DoL hold-ups.

It’s pretty unreasonable that the bureaucrats can hold Queenstown businesses to ransom while they process work visas in this inefficient manner.

Local businesses have pinned their hopes on the DoL delivering the goods. Instead, they’ve been shortchanged by a work permit system that appears to be clumsy and protracted.

I believe this idea has the potential to work in Queenstown, it simply needs better delivery.

I’d like to see the DoL try harder, but more than that I think we need to see some innovative immigration policies that more effectively meet the needs of people in places like Central Otago.

National recognises the importance of ensuring that businesses have access to a stable and skilled workforce. We intend to introduce policies that will enhance an employer’s opportunities, not disadvantage them.

In fact, our immigration policy is based around meeting employer recruitment needs and we promise we will deliver.

In a place like Queenstown, we intend to assist businesses in succeeding – rather than putting impediments in their way as has happened in the past.

National plans to remove the layers of bureaucratic red tape for skilled immigrants, with an immigration policy that’s about attracting the right skills and investment to allow our economy to grow.

We also want to streamline employer accreditation policies to recruit overseas and, importantly for Central Otago, reduce the bureaucratic barriers to being able to hire seasonal workers from countries outside the existing RSE scheme, where the RSE scheme is unable to meet employers’ needs.

At the very least, Queenstown should be getting access to foreign workers through a streamlined work permit system.

We need to do better than make promises about working faster by actually getting on with the job and ensuring that the Wakatipu gets the workers it so desperately needs.

Bill English is National deputy leader and Wakatipu candidate in this year’s election