Labour Immigration Policy — Workers, Families and Refugees

The Policy: Labour Immigration Policy — Migrant Worker Visas →

Labour opposes what it describes as the National-led coalition government's systematic weakening of migrant worker protections, arguing that changes since 2023 have driven down wages and left vulnerable workers exposed to exploitation. The party's immigration spokesperson Phil Twyford has been the primary public voice, framing Labour's position around fair pay, worker rights, and a managed but humane approach to skilled and family migration. As a 2026 election platform takes shape, Labour has signalled it would restore stronger employment standards for migrants, introduce targeted new visa pathways, and maintain New Zealand's humanitarian commitments on refugees.

The National-ACT-NZ First coalition government has removed the requirement that migrant workers on Accredited Employer Work Visas be paid at least the median wage (from March 2025), abolished Fair Pay Agreements, cut the duration of open work visas for exploited migrants, and introduced 90-day trial periods. NZ First has pushed for reduced net migration, while ACT has proposed new fees on migrant workers. National has signalled immigration will be a central issue in the 2026 campaign, framing tightening as necessary for "social cohesion."

What Labour proposes:

• Restore the median wage floor for migrant workers — Labour opposes the March 2025 removal of the requirement that AEWV holders be paid at least the median wage, arguing it cuts take-home pay and undercuts New Zealand workers competing for the same roles.
• Strengthen migrant exploitation enforcement — Labour negotiated increased compliance resourcing ($18 million allocated in Budget 2026) as a formal condition of its support for the New Zealand-India Free Trade Agreement; Phil Twyford has said "there is much more to be done."
• Introduce a targeted temporary worker visa for sectors facing genuine workforce shortages, with stricter labour market tests requiring employers to show they sought Kiwi workers first.
• A new visa for parents and grandparents of New Zealand citizens and residents, modelled on family bond principles though with time not counting toward residency — aimed at addressing lengthy processing backlogs for the Parent Category Resident Visa.
• Maintain New Zealand's refugee quota at 1,500 per year (the level Labour raised it to in 2020 from 1,000) and support the new Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship (CORS) programme becoming permanent from July 2026.
• Protect Pacific access pathways — Labour supports maintaining ballot places under the Pacific Access Category (Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga, Tuvalu) and Samoan Quota and has raised concerns about rising income thresholds making these visas harder to access in practice.

Where things stand:

Labour's opposition record on immigration since the 2023 election has focused on holding the government to account over worker exploitation and wage erosion rather than announcing a comprehensive alternative policy platform. Phil Twyford has been particularly vocal about the removal of the median wage requirement, describing it as taking money out of migrant workers' pockets while employers benefited from suppressed labour costs. He has tied Labour's immigration interventions to broader industrial relations concerns — the same coalition that removed Fair Pay Agreements and introduced 90-day trials has now stripped wage protections for migrants.

The government has defended its changes as giving employers flexibility and helping sectors facing real skills shortages. Immigration Minister Erica Stanford oversaw the AEWV median wage change, framing it as a correction to settings that were too rigid. For the refugee quota, the government has maintained the 1,500 annual cap but restructured how places are allocated: removing the fixed 200-place crisis allocation and allowing ministerial discretion, while ending the specific Afghan subcategory (established 2022) and the Australia-NZ resettlement arrangement in June 2025.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has struck a social cohesion note in the immigration debate, pushing back against what he characterises as coalition parties stoking division and scapegoating migrants for economic difficulties. "Migrants are not to blame for the country's economic situation," Hipkins said in 2026. "The Government has chosen to make immigration an issue because they are trying to blame migrants for their economic failings." Labour positions itself as pro-migration in principle but firm on employment standards — arguing that a rigorous labour market test, genuine wage parity, and strong enforcement are the right levers, not net migration targets or social cohesion rhetoric.

What to watch:

• Whether Labour releases a detailed immigration chapter in its 2026 election manifesto ahead of the election, including specific figures on refugee quotas, Pacific visa places, and skilled migrant thresholds.
• The parliamentary debate on further Skilled Migrant Category changes due to take effect August 2026, and whether Labour supports or opposes the new two-pathway (Skilled Work Experience / Trades and Technician) structure.
• Uptake of the new Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship programme from July 2026, and whether Labour signals it would expand or accelerate CORS.
• Any moves by NZ First or ACT to further tighten Pacific access ballots or parent visa settings — these would draw a sharper contrast with Labour's stated family reunification position.