New Zealand meat association calls for special halal butchers visa to fill worker shortage
A shortage of halal workers needs a sustainable solution or New Zealand’s meat industry will face a “crisis”, said the local Meat Industry Association (MIA).
The industry body, whose members represent 99% of domestic red meat production and export, addressed the government in a written submission on June 28 to the committee conducting an inquiry into the future workforce needs of the primary industries.
New Zealand’s red meat export industry is worth a substantial NZ$9.2 billion ($6.4 billion). The industry as a whole is short more than 2,000 workers across all categories. It needs about 250 halal slaughterers but is currently short of about 50 workers and “the situation is very tight”, said the MIA.
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