YOUR INDUSTRY
’TORNADO TWINS’ TAKE RSE SCHEME BY STORM Words by Glenys Christian
Amy Miller (left) and Tanya Pouwhare
Once you have met the tornado twins, you will never forget them. Hort NZ’s events manager, Amy Miller, and chair of New Zealand Ethical Employers, Tanya Pouwhare, are the duo who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure seasonal workers from the Pacific Islands could continue to travel to New Zealand for work despite a worldwide pandemic. In the space of just four months, the pair have coordinated eight flights, bringing more than 1,500 Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme workers into the country once border exemptions were in place. Amy concentrates on Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ), flights and internal travel while Tanya, who is an employer herself, liaises with employers and Pacific Labour Sending Units bringing RSE workers in.
What seemed like a simple process in the public eye involved a great deal of detail. “We dealt with a myriad of different government departments,” says Tanya. “Along with travel agents from World Travellers in Motueka, we collaborated with international airports, two MIQ facilities, labour sending units in the Pacific and employers just to get the workers to the growing operations where they were so desperately required.
We collaborated with international airports, two MIQ facilities, labour sending units in the Pacific and employers just to get the workers to the growing operations where they were so desperately required
Their efforts were equally fundamental in the successful execution of the one-way Quarantine Free Travel (QFT) scheme approved on 10 September, which facilitated a much-needed influx of RSE workers from Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu, without the need to pass through MIQ.
“With such a myriad of stakeholders involved, it was a 24/7 job with a lot of moving parts.”
“The RSE workers were coming from Covid free countries, meaning they could bypass MIQ and make valuable MIQ spaces available to others.” Amy says.
Before the border exemption was in place, no RSE worker from the Pacific was permitted to come to New Zealand due to Covid-19 restrictions.
24 NZGROWER : DECEMBER 2021
