19th Annual Immigration Law Conference 2023

Opening from the Chair
Peter Moses, Barrister

Keynote Address
Hon Phil Twyford, Associate Minister of Immigration – Confirmed subject to being granted leave from the House

Skills Shortage, Recruitment & Immigration Challenges in the Construction Sector
The constructions sector is a vibrant sector shaping the future of Aotearoa New Zealand, helping us solve some of our world’s biggest challenges such as carbon reduction and climate adaptation. Our economy and future depend on this critical sector. And yet, there is a significant labour shortage across the construction sector in Aotearoa New Zealand – from engineers to surveyors, project managers to site managers, heavy machinery operators and many more. The labour shortage has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, but pre-dates it. We can’t grow enough local talent to meet the current demand, and the sector has always relied on international talent. But the recent immigration rebalance hasn’t done enough to ease the pressure across the construction ecosystem. We’re seeing significant impacts on our sector’s ability to meet the demands being placed on it, and wellbeing impacts on our people. Helen and Alan will present a view of the key challenges and opportunities for the construction sector as it relates to immigration, and how the sector and the immigration community can best work together to support immigration policy and practice in this vital sector.
Helen Davidson, Chief Executive, ACE NZ and Alan Pollard, Chief Executive, Civil Contractors NZ

Immigration Policy Update
An update on immigration policy developments and announcements over the last year.
Jivan Grewal, General Manager, Employment, Skills and Immigration Policy, MBIE

Immigration Operational Update
An operational focus on immigration policy.
Alison McDonald, Immigration Deputy Secretary MBIE

Critical focus on the implications of our current approaches to immigration
An account of migration trends and indications of what we might look like going forward, with a focus on the critical implications of our current immigration policy approaches.
Professor Francis Collins, Director, NIDE, University of Auckland

What’s happening in the Courts
Immigration Case Law Update.
Simon Laurent, Principal, Laurent Law

Export Education, Student Visas and the economy
Bernard Hickey, Independent Journalist

The Skilled Migration landscape
This session will cover off how the AEWV and STR/WTR pathways are bedding in, the latest on SMC including what’s in the pipeline with the review of the category.
Cameron Pritchard, LIA, Team Leader, Malcolm Pacific.

What NZ needs by way of business talent and capital, and how current settings do not deliver
Kirk Hope, CEO, BusinessNZ

An update on IPT Appeals - key issues around current appeals in the IPT
Judge Martin Treadwell, Chair IPT; Debra Smallholme, Member IPT.