Andrea. Welcome to the forum.
Sponsorship does seem a pretty good way of getting into NZ, especially if your partner's entire family is now there. At least he won't have to worry about the centre of gravity thing where some of the family is in NZ but a greater part is in another country. If his family got their PR in 2006 it will have to be at least 2009 before they can sponsor him, as the time limit is 3+ years since getting PR. This is a
quick check for this particular route to residency. Looks like your partner will need to get a job offer under his belt before he applies.
Hope your plans go well.
