Cat Buttle never really felt at home in England.
That’s why she set out for New Zealand almost five years ago, drawn by the promise of adventure, opportunity and a relaxed lifestyle.
She invested her late twenties into a life in the South Island, first working for AJ Hackett in Queenstown, and then as a dairy plant worker in Oamaru.
But in February, she received the worst news an expat can get. Doctors had found a lump in her dad’s neck. A few weeks later, it was confirmed he had thyroid cancer.
His doctor strongly advised the family to tell their daughter to get back on the plane and come home if she wanted to say goodbye.
So knowing full well that border closures would make it difficult to return to the life she was building in New Zealand, she packed her bags to go and say goodbye to her dad.
She was able to spend two weeks with him before he passed away in early May.
Since then, her mind has been consumed with thoughts of getting home to New Zealand.
※I’ve been homesick,§ she said. ※And I never really felt homesick before.§
She said the uncertainty of being able to continue her life on the other side of the world has got in the way of being able to mourn properly.
※My dad’s death doesn’t even feel real yet,§ she said. ※Getting back has been literally on my mind the whole time - it’s all I think about.§
For now she’s living a temporary life, working a temporary job testing people for Covid at Gatwick Airport.
But most of her possessions are here, along with her car, her friends, and her hopes for the future.
Although before she left she was on a talent visa with a clear pathway to residency, Immigration New Zealand have all but blocked her calls now.
Her applications to return on humanitarian grounds have been deflected with faceless, boiler-plate emails saying she has no right to appeal.
It’s all left her feeling pretty hopeless.
※I know it’s not personal,§ she said. ※But it does feel like it is sometimes.§
And while keen workers like Buttle are stopped from returning to the country, Kiwi business sectors are crying out for an answer to labour shortages.
The equation doesn’t add up, say migrant advocates.
Groups like post-study work visa holders have been particularly left out in the cold.
Immigration adviser Katy Armstrong said there are around 5600 post-study work visa holders who were outside when the doors shut.
※They just got stuck - wrong place, wrong time,§ she said. ※They are a really forsaken grouping.§
Buttle wants to know why New Zealand is continuing to lose key workers by not creating pathways to residency.
※New Zealand is losing key workers and people who have put years into this wonderful country and it feels like we are just being shut down,§ she said. ※We are people who have contributed for years, during Covid and have paid taxes, we are part of New Zealand and should not be overlooked.§
As prolonged border closures continue, businesses’ calls for more workers have gone unanswered.
Last week’s state of the sector survey by the Registered Master Builders Association found acute skilled labour shortages to be one of the most critical issues the sector is facing.
※The sector is stretched to breaking point, largely due to factors outside its control,§ Master Builders Chief Executive David Kelly said.
Over two-thirds of those surveyed said it’s harder to get the staff they need now more than it was a year ago.
※Finding skilled staff has been in the top three issues since we began the survey in 2018. The sector is crying out for experienced people across a range of specialist areas,§ said Kelly. ※Uncertainty around immigration settings only exacerbates this situation.§
Meanwhile, the quota of 200 overseas workers brought in to ease the pressure on the dairy industry was seen as too little too late for an industry that had more than 1000 jobs to fill for the 2021-22 season.
At the moment, there are 845 jobs listed on New Zealand Farm Source Jobs, looking for able hands.
A spokesperson for Oceania Dairy, however, said the company is mostly staffed by a permanent, locally based work force and is not affected by worker shortages currently occurring in some business sectors, including the agricultural sector.
Armstrong acknowledged there were attempts by the Government to open a path back for people who usually live in New Zealand. ※Last October they did make an effort to bring back ＆the ordinarily resident’ but not post-study visa holders and then some others that just didn’t quite make the fine print,§ she said.
But for Buttle, her life back in New Zealand remains out of reach.
※I miss the water and the mountains,§ she said. ※England has never really felt like home for me - but New Zealand does.§