Three Waters debate drowning out the real issue

Whatever new system we adopt, public health and environmental needs have to be kept as a central focus to reduce the risk of another crisis like the Havelock North campylobacter outbreak, University of Otago Professor Michael Baker says

Clean drinking water and effective sewage disposal (sanitation) is fundamental to public health, so much so that we take them for granted. That is why the Havelock North campylobacter outbreak in August 2016 was such a shock.

It was caused by surface water contaminated with sheep faeces entering the untreated drinking water system, resulting in an estimated 8320 infections, 58 hospitalisations, and at least four deaths, making it the largest campylobacter outbreak ever reported.

The subsequent Havelock North Drinking Water Inquiry recommended a major overhaul of drinking water supply in New Zealand, which was subsequently broadened into the Three Waters Reform Programme.

Debate around the proposed Three Waters reforms has mostly focused on anti-cogovernance arguments, and concerns around the loss of local control of water infrastructure. This has overshadowed the original reason for the reforms, one of which is to ensure safe, good quality drinking water is available for all.

There are multiple public health and environmental problems and threats that these reforms need to address, in addition to reducing the risk of a repeat Havelock North outbreak: • Regular microbial contamination of drinking water systems, particularly following floods which are becoming more common with climate disruption, resulting in frequent breaches of the drinking water standards and boil water notices. • Concerns about intensified farming and increasing microbial contamination of source water, including with protozoa (cryptosporidia and giardia) which are harder to remove from drinking water with conventional methods. • Increasing levels of nitrate contamination of drinking water, particularly in intensively farmed areas, from application

of nitrate fertiliser and urine from cattle. • Problems with monitoring of fluoride levels, as seen in Wellington, and potentially an issue in other supply systems. • Concerns over lead contamination of drinking water, as seen in Dunedin, and potentially in other water distribution zones. • Inequalities in access to clean drinking water with smaller rural and more deprived communities having poorer access. • Wider environmental issues, including sedimentation, and nutrient, bacterial, and heavy metal contamination of freshwater and coastal areas which causes direct ecosystem damage, and potential human health effects.

Whatever new regulatory and deliver system we adopt, it will be important that these public health and environmental needs are kept as a central focus.

The Havelock North Drinking Water Inquiry emphasises the need for a highly systematic approach to improving the quality and safety of drinking water. A similar need applies to wastewater and stormwater management.

The first part of the water reforms has already been operating for a year. Taumata Arowai became New Zealand’s dedicated regulator of drinking water when the Water Services Act came into effect on 15 November 2021.

It published a Statement of Intent for 2022 – 2026. Key outputs we can expect from this agency are a comprehensive monitoring system of drinking water quality, and drinking water standards that incorporate the best scientific evidence we have about the health effects of contaminants such as nitrates.

There will need to be a strong focus on addressing major upstream risks to the safety of drinking water supplies, such as increased intensification of pastoral farming and climate disruption.

SUMMER 2022 Skills shortage to worsen by 38% in just six years

The critical skills shortage in the manufacturing and engineering sectors is set to grow to 40,000 workers by 2028 unless immediate action is taken, a Government report finds

The research commissioned by Hanga-Aro-Rau, the Manufacturing, Engineering and Logistics Workforce Development Council, found widespread disruption caused by COVID-19, immigration policy settings as well as constraints on supply chains and the international labour market will see the industry skills gap continue to widen – if left unchecked.

The report’s authors found that while rates of employment among other ethnic groups now exceeds pre-COVID levels, the pandemic has exacerbated inequities for Maori and Pacific peoples and their participation within the national manufacturing and engineering workforce is up to 25% lower than prior to COVID-19.

The regional impact of the pandemic is even greater with an industry-wide employment decline recorded for up to 32% of Maori and 18% of Pacific peoples – in the Waikato manufacturing sector.

Researchers found that Maori and Pacific workers are at least 10% less likely than other ethnicities to complete training or find work following the completion of their training. Maori are also 5% more likely to receive a Jobseeker benefit five years after graduating than other ethnic groups.

Phil Alexander-Crawford, chief executive of HangaAro-Rau, one of six Government Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) tasked with aligning the vocational educational systems with industry needs and providing support for Maori businesses and iwi development, says more needs to be done to better support Maori and Pacific people into a higher level of vocational training.

He says the research shows Maori and Pacific people favour tuakana-teina (intergenerational learning) and the disruption caused by COVID-19 will have a legacy impact on the pipeline of new workers for years to come.

“We know that Maori and Pacific workers will pass knowledge down through to the younger generations within the workplace.

“They are also an essential referrer to the industry, and it is common to see extended whanau working within the same firm for decades.

“When this link is broken and an individual leaves the industry, the impact on the sector can be far more widespread reducing the pool of potential workers from future generations,” he says.

The study showed that Maori and Pacific peoples will not reach skills parity with other ethnic groups by 2028 without immediate intervention, including new targeted culturally relevant training programmes.

In addition, without net migration returning to pre-COVID levels, the domestic workforce will be insufficient to address the widening skills gap and that increasing the participation rate of groups who are also significantly underrepresented at all levels of the manufacturing and engineering sectors including women and disabled workers, will be essential for reducing the skills shortfall.

Alexander-Crawford says the pandemic has demonstrated industry needs to reduce its long-term reliance on migrant labour to remain sustainable.

He says the skills shortage could be partially offset through investment in technology and improvements in labour productivity.

“Historically around a quarter of skilled labour needs in manufacturing and engineering are met by migrants.

“By 2028 we will need 463,000 workers in key regions around the country, however based on current trends, a skills shortfall of over 40,000 is set to constrain future manufacturing output.

“We need to begin work immediately to reduce barriers preventing the development of an equitable domestic workforce.

“The research has found this is a complex issue to address and will require a coordinated approach from industry stakeholders, the vocational education system and government support agencies,” he says.

Dieter Adam, NZ Manufacturers and Exporters Association CEO, says the shortage of workers at all skill levels is impacting export relationships built up over decades.

“It is not uncommon for manufacturers to be facing a 15% shortfall in their current workforce. Up until around 12 months ago this was mainly at the higher skill levels however this has now grown to include semiskilled labour as well.

“A large part of New Zealand’s manufacturing and

engineering sector does not operate in the high volume, low value production of consumer goods. They’re typically SMEs who are dominant in a small niche of the capital goods business and have longstanding relationships with relatively few customers.

“When you’ve had good relations with customers for 20 years and you have to tell them you can’t fill any orders until the end of next year and you are losing customers as a result, this is a serious blow to a business of this size.

“These customers have a policy of never relying on one supplier and as a result, New Zealand is losing contracts to our international competition,” he says.

Adam says the new Hanga-Aro-Rau report will provide valuable data and context for those involved in long term resource planning and investments within the industry.

“Until now the industry has little in the way of verifiable numbers to support their anecdotal assessment of the current situation.

“As a result of the research, we now have greater insights into the numbers, including key demographics that are disproportionately underrepresented within the sector.

“We are already seeing increasing interest in the upskilling of existing staff, but we will also see increased emphasis on breaking down the training barriers that prevent those from diverse cultural backgrounds from putting their hand up for training.

“The sector is also going to need to look at how it can incorporate more flexibility into what are usually rigidly defined operating times for shifts – in order to attract more female and younger workers,” he says.

Alexander-Crawford says there are three key pathways open to the manufacturing industry including attracting more workers through training or from other industries, upskilling the current workforce and increasing productivity.

“We know that the manufacturing and engineering sectors are competing with other industries, both domestic and international, for skilled labour.

“New initiatives which reinforce the attractiveness of the sector and increase workforce participation in training are needed to reduce the skilled labour shortage – particularly within key demographics such as Maori, Pacific, disabled people and females, who are underrepresented in these industries.

“With Maori and Pacific peoples expected to see the highest population growth of any ethnicity over the next six years within the regions where Aotearoa’s largest manufacturing facilities are concentrated, they represent a critical segment of the future workforce for these sectors,” he says.

John Tan, partner at Deloitte, which worked in collaboration with HangaAro-Rau and the Tertiary Education Commission to produce the research, says COVID-19 has had a disruptive impact on the manufacturing and engineering workforce and these impacts may endure in a volatile post-pandemic period of significant economic uncertainty.

He says while there is a risk that workforce capacity constrains economic output, there is also an opportunity to adopt different strategies for post-pandemic workforce development.

“Since COVID 19, there has been a reversal of the trend of positive net migration to New Zealand, highlighting New Zealand’s traditional reliance on skilled workers from overseas. The shortages in skilled and unskilled labour are particularly acute in the manufacturing and engineering sectors, for which there is intense global competition.

“Our estimates show that there is a significant workforce capability and capacity gap of up to 17,000 manufacturing roles and 12,000 engineering roles, and the size of this gap is likely to increase if current trends persist. This capacity and capability gap is putting upwards pressure on the cost of labour and risks constraining output,” he says.

SUMMER 2022 How the cloud can help fill job shortages

Over the past three years we’ve learned you can work from anywhere for many roles. Andy Cunningham, Senior Regional Director Australia and New Zealand at Autodesk, explores how this can be applied to the infrastructure sector

Digitalisation is part and parcel of the future of work and the cloud has generated ample opportunities for global collaboration that many companies in construction and infrastructure are only beginning to explore.

In context of incremental workshare, it’s certainly possible to hire talent based abroad to help with delivering construction and infrastructure projects. Many firms have been doing it for years, whether it’s to provide aroundthe-clock support for ongoing projects, roll-over during peaks, or general outsourcing.

The cloud makes tech and data very easy to share securely across borders.

But it ultimately comes down to the roles. Processbased scale work, including documentation and error checking, can be done anywhere, whether it’s through an international hire or this growing era of digital nomads travelling abroad while retaining local jobs.

When you get up to a creative designer and design lead, it’s far less likely. There’s a cross-over point where construction and infrastructure projects need a local flavour.

Meanwhile, we can’t neglect the distinctions between theoretical possibilities, and how those ideas are applied in everyday projects across New Zealand.

While hiring someone in Europe, the US or elsewhere to ease the impacts of the ongoing skills shortage, there are many challenges with ensuring effective collaboration with on-site personnel.

A major factor is education. For example, road design standards are different everywhere, so onboarding requires training to ensure local regulations are inherent to the design source. But what you can end up lacking is on-the-job, in-context training, including specific compliance and regulatory requirements, which can only be done to certain degree before that crossover I mentioned earlier kicks in.

Bringing this type of skills development to the job site – remotely if needed using technology in learning and digital transformation in practice – has a significant impact in bridging resource and skills gaps across shores and borders. It will be instrumental in fostering technical skills tied directly to the evolution of construction and infrastructure work in New Zealand (and elsewhere).

Back in 2019, an Autodesk Foundation report quoted an industry expert who said, “Rather than taking away skilled work, technology has the potential to bring back craft to the industry that has lost craft”. That’s exactly what we are seeing starting to happen now.

Beyond finding international talent, we must also be mindful of the rich trove of skilled engineers and designers here in New Zealand that can – and should – be exposed to international projects. It’s a way to keep local talent here, while providing a route for continued skills development and understanding of ‘best practice’ and ideas from other talented people across the globe.