A special new recovery visa has been announced by the Government on Friday morning in the hope of bringing in migrant workers to help with the enormous post-Cyclone Gabrielle rebuild.
Similar to those used after the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes, it covers a range of jobs, lasts six months and is free if your visa is approved.
Speaking with Tova O'Brien, Immigration Minister Michael Wood said he is confident the jobs will be filled.
"We expect there'll be a significant number of workers who are needed for this and some of that will be domestic workforce," he said.
"There will, unfortunately, be some people who have lost their jobs as a result of these devastating events and they'll be able to be redeployed. But there's no doubt we'll also need significant numbers of migrant workers."
Applications are open from Friday, with Wood telling O'Brien the fee, usually being NZD$700, will be refunded if successful and turned around in one week.
"We think that's going to help in the short term to get the people here that we need… We'll do whatever we need to do within reason to make sure that we support this rebuild," Wood said.
"We're now only just over one week since the main flooding event, so we're continuing to look at what we do by getting this visa product up and going.
"The website is up and as of today, people can start applying to come in.
"We're trying to move as quickly as we can and I'll be getting further advice in the coming weeks about what more we can do."
Listen to the full interview between Michael Wood and Tova above.
You can also download the full interview on the Tova podcast, and listen on the go.
