Prime minister of New Zealand

I am 72, which means I was voting Labour before the current Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, was even born. When she was elevated to the top job, I travelled the ...

We were one of the last countries in the world to tick that box and it took business interests to fill that gaping hole by accessing 65 million tests in less than a fortnight for the Ministry of Health, which had missed the emails that made the initial offer. I believe the majority of Kiwi share that view, but the increasingly inflexible, we know best, we are owed this, stand some of our Māori ministers are taking has opened the doors for those who don’t. They probably should not hold their breath in the hope their opinions might be sought over the next year and a half the commission is going to take. There are other questions that the Royal Commission needs to be asking. That’s called accountability and there is nothing to prevent that accountability being measured by the circumstances under which decisions were made. Her initial response to the Covid pandemic was the envy of the world. The convenient statement that it will not be looking to blame anyone begs the question. Under other circumstances, the pictures might have been viewed as aspirational, but in the context of the very real cost of living crisis, they simply flew in the face of the thousands of Kiwi parents who are struggling every week to find ways to simply clothe and feed their children. Stories like the son who had tested negative on his final test in MIQ (his third negative) but wasn’t allowed to leave a day early to be at his terminally ill father’s bedside. and the Prime Minister featuring on the front page of the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly. That was the message so many of her supporters, me included, proudly shared with our international colleagues who marvelled at what was happening in our small corner of the world. When she was elevated to the top job, I travelled the world bathing in the glow of her international reputation.

New Zealand currently has dire workforce shortages with the unemployment rate sitting at just 3.3 percent. While the Government has made efforts to attract ...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says changes to the immigration settings, to give residency to nurses, teachers and more tradespeople, show the Government is ...

They work for you, not the parties or people in power. From March, 10 professions would be added to the green list. Halal slaughterers would also join the green list next year. “Ultimately, we’ve heard the ask. Whatever your politics, we can all agree: New Zealand is better off when Kiwis are well-informed. Staff shortages stretched across the health professions, with [Stats NZ reported](https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/130735267/nzs-annual-net-migration-loss-continues-to-shrink-kiwis-still-fly-the-coop) a net migration loss of 4100 in the year ended October. “Many students went into debt and hardship, because they had invested a lot into being able to migrate to Aotearoa only for the pandemic to get in the way,” he said. Green Party immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March said the decision to allow those graduates to work would be a “life-changing decision”. [Health Minister Andrew Little saying the country needed “hundreds”](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300546721/health-ministers-bid-to-attract-mental-health-nurses-with-workforce-stressed) of mental health nurses alone. [Immigration Rebalance](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/300648863/the-immigration-rebalance-what-it-is-and-why-it-matters)’ back in May, they were criticised for [enacting “sexist” immigration rules](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/128611289/midwives-and-nurses-flabbergasted-over-sexist-immigration-changes). [After months of pressure](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130493623/green-list-ministry-of-health-calls-for-urgent-review-of-health-workforce-immigration-rules), the Government has moved nurses and midwives onto the immigration green list, meaning they can get immediate residency in New Zealand.

The Government has announced a major change in its immigration settings now allowing nurses, specialist doctors and midwives immediate residency.

The move follows widespread demonstrations in Iran and around the world over the death of 22-year-old Amini, a woman held by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly enforced dress code. She said New Zealand also stood with other countries calling for an investigation by an independent outside body, and calling for Iranian authorities to de-escalate their response and commute all death sentences. “The Green List has been under constant review and will be next reviewed in mid-2023. ”There is a rebalance here the world is going through. “We’ve been asked to make it simpler, so we have. Ardern said the step targeted those connected to the death of Amini and the violent response to those protesting in Iran since then. Asked if she would consider scrapping the controversial TVNZ-RNZ merger, Ardern said while she wouldn’t rule anything in or out “the focus in 2023 needed to be on the economy”. On the global war for talent, Wood said New Zealand is considered one of the best and safest places to live. When asked about the delay in getting nurses on the list, Ardern said the battle for skills was only going to increase and New Zealand needed to “get in front of the competition”. We need to make sure we are at the top of the list.” “Adding these roles will further build on the attractiveness of New Zealand to those looking to set themselves and their families up long term.” Ardern said today the message to nurses everywhere is: “We are the best place to live, work and play.”

Nurses and midwives have been added to the Green List along with specialist doctors, something the migrant community have been demanding for a long time.

The new system had a strong start but then as the number of applications rose, it began to struggle. As of writing, INZ has about 56,000 applications to process. In the past few years, that was not an option mainly because of restrictions that tightened up in the pandemic. This was also seen as an opportunity to reset New Zealand’s immigration policies. It gives you the right to free education in state schools, tertiary fee subsidies and even student loans depending on your residence status. You’ll also be eligible to serve in a jury. New Zealand's nurses say they’re tired and yet, there’s criticism the Government isn’t trying hard enough to recruit more. Currently, you need to work for two years in an eligible role in order to apply for residency. That's why today we're announcing the expansion of the Green List, which provides two fast tracks to residency to help attract people to New Zealand and fill labour shortages," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. Aotearoa New Zealand is in desperate need of nurses. In October, there were just 39 applications, the lowest all year. The Green List consists of highly skilled, hard-to-find occupations that guarantees residence pathways for eligible people who are coming to New Zealand.

Nurses, specialist doctors and midwives will be added to the straight-to-residence pathway among a range of new immigration settings announced by ...

These people would be able to enter and work in New Zealand for up to a year if not already on another visa. Adding these roles will further build on the attractiveness of New Zealand to those looking to set themselves and their families up long term." "But in a crowded market let's make the message even simpler. This effectively means employers will be accredited for two years from the start instead of having a one-off one-year accreditation. "As part of our signalled review, we are expanding the Green List settings to include more professions in our healthcare, education and construction sectors, to give a competitive edge in a highly competitive global environment," he said. A Specific Purpose work visa will also be added to help keep about 2500 critical workers in the country for up to three years, and a 12-month Open Work Visa for the roughly 1800 people who had been on Post Study Work Visas but missed out when the border closed.

Ardern pushes back at suggestion resigning Labour MPs are jumping ship. Covid-19 update: Over 40,000 new cases in the past week, 35 deaths. blog ...

Speaking to Newshub’s AM, Ardern said she would learn from the result and instruct cabinet ministers to take a look at their agenda for the new year. A reshuffle will be announced in the new year, but that was a separate issue and had been long-signalled, Ardern said. MBIE is confident that it provided a high standard of advice to ministers on the operation of MIQ given the challenging environment.” The turnout for that byelection was along some of the lowest we’ve seen,” she said. “The scale of the MIQ system, and speed at which it was set up is unprecedented in New Zealand’s history,” Gray said. Meanwhile, on the Hamilton West byelection, Ardern said the result – which saw National take control of the seat – was disappointing but not unexpected. RNZ’s Corin Dann asked the prime minister whether any of her MPs had seen the “writing on the wall” ahead of next year’s election and after the weekend’s dismal byelection result. The government raised the quota for the RSE scheme by 3000 this summer in September. Meanwhile, the opposition repeatedly condemned it as a “lottery of human misery”. “Adding these roles will further build on the attractiveness of New Zealand to those looking to set themselves and their families up long term.” While the outcome of those talks isn’t yet known, it’s been rumoured to include shifting settings to address workforce shortages. These measures are about addressing those shortages and providing greater certainty to businesses as they recover from the pandemic.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said changes to the immigration system meant those eligible can get fast-tracked residency from Thursday.

"Leaving migrant nurses off the fast track to residence pathway was nothing short of madness while New Zealand faced critical staff shortages." Ardern told reporters on Monday that the message to nurses everywhere now is that New Zealand is the "best place to live, work and play". New Zealand on Monday offered overseas nurses and midwives an immediate pathway to residency, as the country tries to address an acute shortfall of medical staff.

The government's been slapped on the wrist over its MIQ lottery. Ardern pushes back at suggestion resigning Labour MPs are jumping ship. Covid-19 update: Over ...

Speaking to Newshub’s AM, Ardern said she would learn from the result and instruct cabinet ministers to take a look at their agenda for the new year. A reshuffle will be announced in the new year, but that was a separate issue and had been long-signalled, Ardern said. MBIE is confident that it provided a high standard of advice to ministers on the operation of MIQ given the challenging environment.” The turnout for that byelection was along some of the lowest we’ve seen,” she said. “The scale of the MIQ system, and speed at which it was set up is unprecedented in New Zealand’s history,” Gray said. Meanwhile, on the Hamilton West byelection, Ardern said the result – which saw National take control of the seat – was disappointing but not unexpected. RNZ’s Corin Dann asked the prime minister whether any of her MPs had seen the “writing on the wall” ahead of next year’s election and after the weekend’s dismal byelection result. The government raised the quota for the RSE scheme by 3000 this summer in September. Meanwhile, the opposition repeatedly condemned it as a “lottery of human misery”. “Adding these roles will further build on the attractiveness of New Zealand to those looking to set themselves and their families up long term.” While the outcome of those talks isn’t yet known, it’s been rumoured to include shifting settings to address workforce shortages. These measures are about addressing those shortages and providing greater certainty to businesses as they recover from the pandemic.”

New Zealand Climate Change Minister James Shaw said the world is unlikely to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to less than 2C ...

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made the claim while discussing the production of new-generation weapons in Russia.