Latest news with #AccreditedEmployerWorkVisa
1News
18 hours ago
- Politics
- 1News
Assault of migrant worker in Auckland sparks protest
Protesters gathered in West Auckland demanding justice for a migrant worker who was allegedly assaulted at his workplace. The protest, organised by the Migrant Rights Network and the Migrant Workers Association of Aotearoa, called for greater accountability and stronger protections for migrant workers in New Zealand. The victim, Satnam Singh, was allegedly attacked at his workplace — an Auckland restaurant — on the evening of June 29. He was reportedly later found injured on the roadside by cleaning staff in the early hours of Monday. Singh, who held an Accredited Employer Work Visa, had been living and working in New Zealand for the past two years after migrating from Punjab, India. ADVERTISEMENT "We've gathered here to show our support for Satnam," said Sher Singh, a migrant advocate with the Migrant Rights Network. The protest called for greater accountability and stronger protections for migrant workers in New Zealand. (Source: He told RNZ he had been at the victim's bedside for the past few days. "He [Satnam] is recovering, but he's feeling very down. He never expected something like this happening to him in a country like New Zealand." Anu Kaloti, president of the Migrant Workers Association NZ, said that "no one should come to work expecting to be harmed". "This is shocking. We do hear of workers facing minor assaults, but this-this is on another level," she said. Anu Kaloti is the president of the Migrant Workers Association NZ. (Source: ADVERTISEMENT The protest organisers said it was time for the government and its agencies to act by upgrading the charges to attempted murder, ensuring safer workplaces for migrant workers and abolishing the Accredited Employer Work Visa. The work visa scheme had been under intense media scrutiny since reports emerged in 2023 that migrant workers on such visas were finding themselves destitute and jobless after paying large sums of money to relocate to New Zealand. A 2024 Public Service Commission review found that Immigration New Zealand did not adequately assess the risk and impact of changes to speed up processing times would have on visa abuse. The government announced major changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa in December 2024, but a union advocate told RNZ the reforms still left migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation. Singh was recovering after surgery at Auckland City Hospital. A 26-year-old man has been arrested and charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The man was expected to appear in Waitākere District Court on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT
RNZ News
05-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Listen live: Chris Hipkins talks to Morning Report about minister's email faux pas, and longer prison sentences
Education Minister Erica Stanford has been using her personal email account for work purposes. Photo: Samuel Rillstone / RNZ Education Minister Erica Stanford has been using her personal email account for work purposes, including sending herself pre-Budget announcements to print out. The Cabinet manual says Ministers should avoid using their personal email account or phone, and where that cannot be avoided ensure classified information is handled appropriately. Records must also be kept for official information requests. 1News reported the details of an Official Information Act response on Monday, showing Stanford last May forwarded the pre-Budget announcement - of the government's $53 million plans to recruit 1500 teachers over four years - to her personal account, including a draft media release, fact sheet and speaking notes. She also directed officials via her personal account as recently as 2 March. In April last year, Stanford - who is also the Immigration Minister - did the same with documents about the Accredited Employer Work Visa, which included details about changes that were not revealed until late June. She also corresponded with Dr Michael Johnston, a senior fellow at the New Zealand Initiative conservative think tank, about an advisory group working on changes to the English, Maths and Science curriculums using her personal address, as well as with schools and principals. Speaking to reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Stanford had been having printing problems and received messages from the public, but had since made changes after his office spoke to her about it. "My office has spoken with her, I understand it's been very few occasions. What I'd say is that she has had tech issues with printing, that's a good example. I'm aware ministers in the previous government ... used personal emails in the same way," Luxon said. "I'm very relaxed about it. The reality is she's received unsolicited emails, she's had printing issues, she's had tech issues. She's made changes subsequently, she's got the IT support that she needs in place, and I'm very comfortable with it." He said Labour leader Chris Hipkins had for example used his personal accounts for printing as well. "I'm just saying there's a history ... under the cabinet manual, it's quite okay and quite acceptable that there will be moments in time where people might need to use their personal phones and emails in order for things like printing materials or IT tech support. "Look, I'm super relaxed about it ... Erica's office has spoken to my office about it, she's made the changes that she needed to make." In a statement, Stanford said she had used her personal account - which was publicly available at the time - when she was in opposition, and sometimes received emails from the public or stakeholders through that account since becoming a minister. "Where necessary, I have forwarded these emails to my ministerial email or ministerial staff to be actioned or be included in official information. Many emails to my personal email have previously been considered in scope of official information act requests and released to requestors." She also at times sent copies of briefings for printing at home or her electorate office, typically for announcements, international travel or media events away from Wellington, she said - but had since made changes to her processes. "I've set up an automatic reply for my personal email address to direct unsolicited emails to relevant Parliament email addresses. Following the confirmation of the location of my electorate office and completion of the required renovations, Parliamentary Service installed my office printer to the Parliamentary network. This process was completed last month as Parliamentary Service was unwilling to install the printer until the electorate office location and renovation was finalised." Hipkins said he had changed the official advice when he was prime minister, to make it clear ministers should not be using their personal email accounts. "The technology in Parliament has improved dramatically in the last few years, there's no longer a need to use personal email accounts for example to print documents, the technology allows for that. The technology is now all fully mobile, it previously wasn't ... so there's absolutely no justification for that," Hipkins said. He said there would be "some limited circumstances where it's unavoidable" for ministers to use their personal accounts for work, but his own past use of personal email was because of technological limitations that had since largely been overcome. "If someone emails you, unsolicited, for example to your personal email account, what I used to do was then forward that to my Parliamentary email account and then reply to it from my Parliamentary account so that it would be on record. "The only other times when I ever received information in an official capacity [to his personal account] were things like speech notes when I was out and about and not able to be in the building, so I could print them or use them of a digital device that couldn't access the Parliamentary system. "That's no longer a justification because all of Parliament's digital technology's been updated." As well as concerns about ensuring all the information was retained for official records, security was also a factor, he said. "The GCSB and the SIS have recently released quite detailed information about the lengths that some are going to, to access information that is not publicly available. Exchanging sensitive government documents using a Gmail account is like hanging out a big welcome sign to those actors - many of who are overseas - 'come and look here'." Whether it was a sacking offence would depend on the nature of the information, he said. "Certainly Budget information, any security information, none of that should be transacted using a personal email account." Where party policy - as opposed to government policy - was concerned, the situation was slightly different, he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
05-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
National's Erica Stanford used personal email for work purposes
Education Minister Erica Stanford has been using her personal email account for work purposes. Photo: Samuel Rillstone / RNZ Education Minister Erica Stanford has been using her personal email account for work purposes, including sending herself pre-Budget announcements to print out. The Cabinet manual says Ministers should avoid using their personal email account or phone, and where that cannot be avoided ensure classified information is handled appropriately. Records must also be kept for official information requests. 1News reported the details of an Official Information Act response on Monday, showing Stanford last May forwarded the pre-Budget announcement - of the government's $53 million plans to recruit 1500 teachers over four years - to her personal account, including a draft media release, fact sheet and speaking notes. She also directed officials via her personal account as recently as 2 March. In April last year, Stanford - who is also the Immigration Minister - did the same with documents about the Accredited Employer Work Visa, which included details about changes that were not revealed until late June. She also corresponded with Dr Michael Johnston, a senior fellow at the New Zealand Initiative conservative think tank, about an advisory group working on changes to the English, Maths and Science curriculums using her personal address, as well as with schools and principals. Speaking to reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Stanford had been having printing problems and received messages from the public, but had since made changes after his office spoke to her about it. "My office has spoken with her, I understand it's been very few occasions. What I'd say is that she has had tech issues with printing, that's a good example. I'm aware ministers in the previous government ... used personal emails in the same way," Luxon said. "I'm very relaxed about it. The reality is she's received unsolicited emails, she's had printing issues, she's had tech issues. She's made changes subsequently, she's got the IT support that she needs in place, and I'm very comfortable with it." He said Labour leader Chris Hipkins had for example used his personal accounts for printing as well. "I'm just saying there's a history ... under the cabinet manual, it's quite okay and quite acceptable that there will be moments in time where people might need to use their personal phones and emails in order for things like printing materials or IT tech support. "Look, I'm super relaxed about it ... Erica's office has spoken to my office about it, she's made the changes that she needed to make." Hipkins said he had changed the official advice when he was prime minister, to make it clear ministers should not be using their personal email accounts. "The technology in Parliament has improved dramatically in the last few years, there's no longer a need to use personal email accounts for example to print documents, the technology allows for that. The technology is now all fully mobile, it previously wasn't ... so there's absolutely no justification for that," Hipkins said. He said there would be "some limited circumstances where it's unavoidable" for ministers to use their personal accounts for work, but his own past use of personal email was because of technological limitations that had since largely been overcome. "If someone emails you, unsolicited, for example to your personal email account, what I used to do was then forward that to my Parliamentary email account and then reply to it from my Parliamentary account so that it would be on record. "The only other times when I ever received information in an official capacity [to his personal account] were things like speech notes when I was out and about and not able to be in the building, so I could print them or use them of a digital device that couldn't access the Parliamentary system. "That's no longer a justification because all of Parliament's digital technology's been updated." As well as concerns about ensuring all the information was retained for official records, security was also a factor, he said. "The GCSB and the SIS have recently released quite detailed information about the lengths that some are going to, to access information that is not publicly available. Exchanging sensitive government documents using a Gmail account is like hanging out a big welcome sign to those actors - many of who are overseas - 'come and look here'." Whether it was a sacking offence would depend on the nature of the information, he said. "Certainly Budget information, any security information, none of that should be transacted using a personal email account." Where party policy - as opposed to government policy - was concerned, the situation was slightly different, he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
