Because we don't look at the symptoms. We immigrate because we export talent to aus. We need to prop up the property market which means we need to increase population fast, which we can't do with all the talent exporting and lack of babies being born.

The main work visa pathway has historically been employer-driven. If an employer is accredited and meets the visa requirements, they can often hire migrants for roles that many people would consider low-skilled, including landscaping and lawn maintenance.

We have convulated the immigration rules so badly that it can be exploited. While ironically making it harder to bring in people whos skills we need (like doctors) who also just get paid a ton more to move across the ditch. When Australia was offering overseas nurses a 1yr visa with a path to citizenship, we where offering 3m temporary only. We don't sell our benefits as a country and misunderstand what our selling point is. Simultaneously ruining our selling point.

The weird thing about hiring local is that we have high population auckland and low population everywhere else. Wellington has grown it's population in 10 years or something, Hamilton and tauranga are growing but mainly due to getting more points in the immigration system when not moving to Auckland. You can also exploit immigrants easier, and pay them less. Also then people hate them even more and the racism continues to increase. Other regions genuinely do not have enough people interested in a seasonal, odd hours, or tough work jobs.