Denise Montgomery

During New Zealand’s 2023 election campaign, a pre-election promise made by the National-led coalition, now in government, was to increase the cap on numbers employed under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme to 38,000 by the end of the decade (up from 19,000 in 2022-23) and, possibly, to open RSE recruitment up to other countries. The suggestion to expand the RSE scheme -- which has had a clear Pacific preference from the outset -- to countries beyond the region might seem unexpected.

Talofa lava and welcome aboard this Royal Australian Navy Ship HMAS Stuart. It is an honour to join Commander Richard Raymond and his crew in hosting you all this evening. We are pleased to welcome the HMAS Stuart and its crew on its journey home to Australia following a successful exercise with the United States Navy in Hawaii. I offer my deepest faafetai tele lava to the Samoan Government, particularly the Samoa Police Service, for the very warm welcome for the ship and its crew earlier today.

Global demand and prices for cocoa have soared in the past few years with the price now the highest it has been in over 44 years – USD6,514 per metric ton as of 27 February 2024. In Papua New Guinea, cocoa ranks third among agricultural export crops, following palm oil and coffee, contributing around 14% of national agricultural export revenue.