P a g e 0 4 w w w . m i g r a n t n e w s . n z I F A C E B O O K P A G E M i g r a n t N e w s N Z I email : migrantnews @ xtra . co . nz I m o b : 0 2 7 4 9 5 8 4 7 7
Immigration reset or a new normal ?
continued from page 11
" We ' d relax the requirements for an investment class visa so we could make it much less red tape involved and make it a very attractive destination for those high-net worth investors and technology entrepreneurs to come in and that would really help our tech sector move to the next level ."
National leader Judith Collins also announced its plans to allow skilled and seasonal workers back into the country .
ACT ' s immigration spokesperson James McDowall said there had been a massive immigration reset caused by Covid-19 and the country would need to find a way to attract people back .
" The reality is we ' ve had a great number of migrants leave New Zealand , those on temporary visas . And then at the same time we ' ve had a lot of New Zealanders come back to New Zealand so there will be a big shift here - immigration has basically flatlined .
" I think we have an opportunity to use our relatively Covid-free status , our ability to manage the virus well to attract extraordinarily skilled people , investors and other productive individuals to New Zealand .
“ Immigration numbers have plummeted this year and with all of the expat New Zealanders coming home , things have shifted - the skills landscape has shifted massively ."
The immigration points system was not necessarily focused on the right things , McDowall said .
" Immigration today has devolved into a complex and arbitrary system of points and scores when what we really need to do is look at how we can best understand where the skill shortages are ."
Education providers would lose market share to other countries if a solution was not found to managed isolation .
Britain this week reported a record intake of students from outside the EU , with a 9 percent rise despite its handling of the coronavirus crisis .
He described the changes made to sponsoring a parent as punitive - immigrants must now earn at least $ 106,000 a year .
Green Party immigration spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman said she also wanted the parent category back on the table .
Fairness should be the priority and refugee numbers should gradually rise to 4000 - putting New Zealand between Australia and Canada in the per capita number of refugees it accepts .
" Our focus has been to get the immigration system working on a principled sort of basis where we ' re not necessarily , for example , delaying residence visas to bring down numbers arbitrarily . That we ' re providing pathways for migrant workers or students who come here in good faith to be both protected against exploitation , but also to apply for residency and have those applications processed fairly .
" The residence programme I think has been a source of real stress and anxiety for migrants and it has felt really exploitative of New Zealand to let people in and have them integrate into our system , to give their labour or their money in terms of education and then not be able to settle . I think setting arbitrary numbers by political parties has been the cause of that ."
New Zealand First wants to take the immigration portfolio if it is part of the next government - but leader Winston Peters would not be drawn on whether he wanted to be immigration minister .
He said wholesale and low-skilled immigration in the last three decades created dysfunctional supply and demand in housing , health and infrastructure .
Global investors must also only be allowed in on New Zealand ' s terms , he said .
" Immigration is still a serious issue for this election . And what we do after this , hopefully , is not to learn nothing from it and go down the same pathway as the previous Labour and National Party governments did .
" We can run immigration properly in our interests , that is bring people here who we desperately need , not people who desperately need us .
“ Let me tell you , I can ' t find any other country in the free world that ' s gone down the path that we ' ve previously inherited , which we ' re trying to turn back now ."
New Zealand First took credit for keeping Immigration New Zealand in check over the last three years .
"[ There has been ] a far closer examination and inspection of what the Immigration department is doing .
“ Countless challenges to them , nearly on a monthly basis to how they ' re preparing the information ; disquiet expressed to them about the way their information was so poorly assembled ; and in the end by saying we want that portfolio after the next election .
“ Why ? Because no way should a system like that have been allowed to run down so badly ."
Among parties not currently in Parliament , the Maori Party promised this week it would halt all immigration until housing supply catches up with demand .
The New Conservative Party also has a Net Zero immigration policy while housing demand eases , with student visas and seasonal workers excluded .
The Opportunities Party would hold a Royal Commission into immigration needs and effects , and meantime restrict visas to jobs in areas of skills shortage and students at postgraduate level .