New Zealand First Party Leader Winston Peters announced their strict immigration policy stating that people allowed into the country should be reduced. As a backgrounder, Peters is an outspoken critic of the open door immigration policy of New Zealand. He is very vocal about his disdain for immigrants especially Asians. There was a time in 1999 that he blamed immigrants for Auckland’s entire problems from traffic to crime.

While I understand that we are all going through some tough economic times, and consequently, many NZ jobs are lost, immigrants will NOT compete with these jobs because to start with, most immigrants are skilled. The NZ Immigration, through the Skilled Migrants Policy, ensures that immigrants arriving in NZ have the skills that the country desperately needs.

Mr Peters suggested reducing the immigration quota from 50,000 to 10,000. Inasmuch as this is downright pointless and irresponsible, it undermines the enormous help that immigrants are contributing to the NZ economy. It is usually the immigrants that starts a business, business that generates jobs. Income tax from immigrants (which is unbelievable high) contributes a chunk on the national budget. Immigrants would rarely be involved in a crime, unless they are the victim (sad fact). Immigrants rarely use state benefits and welfares compared to locals.

I sometimes find it amusing when somebody feels threatened of immigrants because of job competition. Does he want to open a liquor shop, or maybe a dairy? On the other hand, maybe he wants to be a caregiver or even a programmer. A company hires people based on qualifications; and if people are too complacent or simply underqualified, be an immigrant or a Kiwi, then they will not make the cut. Simple as that. It has nothing to do with the passport you are holding.

It is a good thing that the incumbent Prime Minister, Helen Clark said that Mr. Peter’s idea is not sensible. In a small population nation such as New Zealand, immigrants play a huge role in the advancement of the economy. Stand proud immigrants.

1 Comment:

  1. whereisannie said...
    Hey there, when elections often roll out you will always get the candidates' different views on the matter. All I can say is that he is just expressing his opinion on the matter. It's up to the public then to choose which party will best represent NZ afterwhich, that party should choose the best people to put into key positions that will protect the interests of NZ as a whole. I am a migrant myself and having things like this thrown out during the campaign trail is really a pain to hear and can be disheartening at times...but you take things in stride and pray that the officials elected really have the best interests of NZ in mind.

    My opinion on the NZ migration scheme though is that it's in place because NZ needs skilled workers to fill in the gap in the labour market to avoid brain drain to preserve the economy. If they have enough people who want to stay rather than go abroad then good on them. It's a matter of convincing a portion of that population now to upgrade their skills and convert that into something that can contribute into the economy.

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