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Migrant Labour Exploitation in New Zealand: A Critical Analysis of the Political Discourse

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Date

2025

Authors

Kohli, Harsimran Singh

Supervisor

Skilling, Peter

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Master of Business

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Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Migrant labour exploitation often occurs in countries where there are significant numbers of seasonal migrant labour (SML) workers. A significant share of New Zealand’s workforce is made up of SML and due to this extensive reliance on imported labour, cases of SML exploitation are common. Earlier studies have documented both the occurrence of SML exploitation and its drivers, such as employer-bounded visas, high recruitment fees, and weak enforcement (Bi, 2016; Collins & Stringer, 2019; Stringer & Michailova, 2019). However, how politicians frame exploitation and how this framing influences the policies that facilitate or control exploitation have received limited attention. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine how politicians represent the issue of SML and the main themes in the New Zealand political domain related to SML exploitation. In this sense, narratives are not just rhetoric, they are policy-making tools that raise a problem, legitimise some solutions, and “rule out” other options. Politicians – ministers and party leaders – define the rules of migrant labour schemes. Looking at the narratives of politicians about SML shows not only their plan for migrants but how they frame the problem, how they portray stories, and what policies politicians will use to respond exploitation. Using a qualitative research design, secondary data were collected using press releases, Hansard debates, newspapers, and websites of political parties. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings show that politicians – notably those from New Zealand’s two major parties – present narratives in support of continued and increased SML for the New Zealand economy because it helps achieve export targets, industry production demands and benefits for Pacific workers. However, SML impacts local labour and is linked with exploitation by employers. Thus, SML is presented as both beneficial and fraught. Because the beneficial aspect lifts the broader New Zealand economy, successive governments remain reactive – reforms are done when scandals emerge or due to media pressure – to correct compliances instead of addressing migrant exploitation at a structural level.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10292/20211

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