Immigration Minister Michael Wood says changes were needed to immigration settings as the international labour shortage had become "extremely severe".
The Government announced on Monday nurses and midwives will finally be added to the straight-to-residence pathway after months of criticism after an earlier decision to exclude them.
The occupations will be added to the fast-tracked pathway from Thursday, with Wood admitting on Monday that "we need to do more to encourage nurses to choose New Zealand".
Appearing on AM to talk about the new immigration policy, Wood said the "significant package of changes" will help tackle the labour shortage in New Zealand.
"So, as you know, nurses and midwives are on the straight-to-residency list, but also a range of other roles will have access to the two-year to-residency list," Wood told AM co-host Ryan Bridge.
"For example, to allow about 1800 students who had post-study work rights, who got caught offshore after the borders closed, the ability to come back into New Zealand and access work rights. So it's a broader package than just nurses and midwives, but that is an important part of it."
Wood said he's been looking closely over the past two months at how the system has been working and what's occurring overseas.
He said the previous system was helping attract workers, but the international labour shortage meant changes were urgent.
"The previous system was helping us to attract people, but what has become very apparent is that the international shortage is extremely severe," he said.
"We're seeing other countries continue to make moves in this area, so we made the call to make sure that our offer to nurses internationally is as clear and simple and as attractive as it possibly can be."
One worry Wood had in the past was nurses would use New Zealand as a backdoor to get to Australia, but the Immigration Minister believes the work they have done and "good rates of pay" will be enough to keep them in Aotearoa.
"So for example, the recent pay parity settlement that we reached in the aged care sector means that it's more likely that that sector will be able to keep hold of people once it gets them into the country."
Wood said the immigration requirements will become easier, but warned we aren't in the clear just yet.
"We know that we will continue to face pressures in this area, internationally there is going to continue to be more competition," he said.
"We potentially face a challenging winter again in 2023, so we just want to make the policies as simple and streamlined as possible to help get the people here that we need."
Watch the full interview with Michael Wood above.
