21 May 2001

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel said she was encouraged by the latest external migration figures which show a net inflow of 360 permanent and long-term arrivals during April.

The Statistics New Zealand figures out today show that the seasonally adjusted permanent and long-term series in April recorded the first net inflow since November 1999 and only the second since January 1998.

The actual permanent and long-term departures from New Zealand exceeded arrivals by 690, which was still almost two-thirds down on the departures for April 2000.

"I am certainly encouraged that during April 2001, there were 890 more arrivals and 310 fewer departures, than during April 2000," Lianne Dalziel said.

"Migration figures for March showed a zero net flow in the seasonally adjusted permanent and long-term arrivals and departures. Today's figures are a confirmation of the reversal of the previous trend and represent a significant turn-around as predicted.

"On the visitor front, it's pleasing to note that visitor arrivals were up 7% last month compared with April 2000. This represents a 145 % increase on visitor arrivals a decade ago.

"These figures confirm the confidence within the tourism sector. The Tourism Industry Association's own survey results, released yesterday (Sunday, 20 May), show 74% of respondents experienced improved revenue in the year ended December 2000 compared with the previous year and that 71% of respondents still expect profitability to improve."

Ends

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

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