“Addressing modern-day slavery in Aoteaora”

…“New Zealand imports $3.2 billion of products associated with modern slavery, forced labour and child labour,” World Vision Aotearoa’s advocacy and justice head, Rebekah Armstrong, says…

…Last week, Deputy Prime Minister and Workplace Relations Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced the government would be bringing in legislation that would require organisations and businesses to be transparent about their operations and supply chains through a new public register…

“Many New Zealanders are not aware that human trafficking and work exploitation are happening in New Zealand,” Maga says. “If you look at the Ministry of Business’ statistics, there have been about 51 cases of human trafficking.” Most cases “are happening in the horticulture industry and our Pacific brothers and sisters have become victims of it”.

…migrant worker exploitation is an area of concern…

Organisations also say the government should have gone further in its new law.

“What we would have liked to see is due diligence included,” Armstrong says. The government’s legislation would require organisations with over $20 million in revenue to report and outline the actions they take to address exploitation risks in their operations and supply chains but it does not require them by law to mitigate or eliminate the risks they identify…