Hosted by the Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce, the event had to be postponed in July after Mr Robertson contracted Covid-19.
Despite the delay, Mr Robertson yesterday briefly recapped Budget 2022 before discussing the declining state of the global economy, stating ongoing supply chain issues alongside inflation would continue to put "massive pressure" on businesses and households.
Opening the floor to a Q&A, the minister was met with a slew of questions on issues pertinent to Queenstown, including public transport funding, visitor levies, economy diversification and labour shortages.
Queenstown tourism and property broker Adrian Chisholm called for a review of immigration settings to help alleviate the acute shortage of workers in the resort.
Mr Chisholm said from his daily interactions with the local business community, it was evident current immigration policy was not sufficient in reducing the pressures faced by employers and their staff.
"We’re not only in a [labour] crisis — we are looking, with the forward bookings coming into New Zealand later this year, at an emergency situation and it’s going to have downward side effects for our tourism brand in New Zealand and for the mental wellbeing of the industry."
Mr Robertson declined the request to create a subcommittee on the basis it was an issue "all of Cabinet needs to care about", and stood by recent immigration setting changes that allowed additional workers to enter the country for sectors affected by shortages, and extended visas to retain labour already in the country.
"If it’s an emergency and it’s a crisis, taking a look at the overall settings is going to take too long ... We’ve got to deal with where we are now."
He understood there was no room for delay in bringing workers into the country, and the Government was "all over" tweaking settings to "do what needs to be done to make sure you’ve got the staff you need for summer".
Queenstown-Lakes Mayor Jim Boult said the district desperately needed an influx of low-skilled workers to adequately service the customers expected over summer, and expressed concern over the speed and some entry criteria of immigration processes.
"The last thing we want to be doing is ruining our reputation as a high-quality destination because we can’t service them.
"Some of the skills we need are at the low end ... It’s the bed makers, pot scrubbers ... We need those folk."
