New Zealand First is signalling a tougher immigration stance, longer waits for residency and citizenship, a referendum to cap new residency approvals at 20,000 a year, and a 30-year population plan tying migrant intake to infrastructure capacity.
Labour is also tightening its settings, extending residency qualification to four years and promising a Government Policy Statement.
But as economists like Bernard Hickey point out these policies miss the real immigration pressure.
New Zealand issues more than 230,000 temporary work visas annually.
Largely for lower-paid roles on our farms in our kitchens and even in our beauty salons.
The temporary workers aren't here forever. But when they go, they're replaced but other temporary visa holders.
This quarter of a million of temporary visa holders is still driving population growth, straining infrastructure, and suppressing wages.
They come with problems that no-one is addressing.
Not for the first time politicians can't see the wood for the trees and not for the first time they then release policies that are primarily designed to get votes but not to address the issues.
Andrew Dickens is a broadcaster with Newstalk ZB. - where this article was sourced.
4 comments:
I always find these anti immigrant comments hilarious. Simply imagine NZ with zero immigrants. Of, course Kiwis don't really like competition (Aussies really dislike competition). They all actively despise being surrounded by smarter people. NZ's fundamental problem is that too many B students are in too many positions of power. Good luck with inward navel gazing nationalism!
Isn't the real problem with regard to those 230,000 temporary workers that unemployed NZers refuse to do those jobs and are not made to?
I do dspise being surrounded by imported truck drivers who cannt speak English or progress towards. They may or may not be safer drivers than easy going local cultures.. The intelligent imports passing time running $2 Shops and the like is a concern. A major blunder was and is the easy immigration of Pacific Islandes fully as adept as maori at identifying and exploiting soft welfare conditions.
The lack of a desire to work is true for some, but far from all. I live in a small town. The booze shops and petrol stations are now all owned by Indians. All the local staff fired with each purchase, replaced by a revolving door of fresh in the country immigrants. They are here on the road to permanent residency, nothing for the community at all.
The local workers, people that want to work, dumped on the dole with little other options open to them. So please, go easy on the stupid claim Kiwis just don't want to work.
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.