Photo: Β© VNP / Phil Smith
New Zealand has quietly scrapped plans to open new Pacific worker pathways in the meat and seafood processing sectors, documents obtained by RNZ Pacific under the Official Information Act (OIA) show.
Two new seasonal visas, the Peak Seasonal Visa (PSV) and the Global Workforce Seasonal Visa (GWSV), began being issued in December 2025.
The new visas open seasonal migrant workers to seven months of work in a number of industries, including forestry, dairy, meat and seafood processing.
But for the latter two sectors, it appears to come at the expense of a programme that would have offered Pacific workers a special deal.
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