Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
12 March 2013

Immigration Policy Doesn’t Give All a Fair Go

New Zealand First says the Government’s parent reunion immigration policy is unfair and must be reviewed.

Immigration New Zealand statistics for (June) 2011/2012 show the total immigrants admitted under parent reunion policy was 5708 – or 28 per cent of the 20,431 skilled immigrants admitted.

However, the proportion of parents admitted from China was more than 120 per cent of the skilled immigrants arriving from China.

China has long had a one child policy. So one child coming to New Zealand is entitled to bring two parents.

A married Chinese couple can bring four parents, hence the significant disproportionate entitlement.

Rt Hon Winston Peters says this means parents from China are taking up more than half the total parent reunion quota.

“New Zealand First proposes changes to the parent reunion policy to cap the Parent Category from each country to the equivalent of 20 per cent of the skilled migrants arriving from each respective country.

“It would give skilled migrants from all countries an equal chance to have their parents come and live alongside them in New Zealand.”

Mr Peters says the proposal is fair because skilled migrants are the breadwinners, and parents who join them in this country are not required to work.

“But they are eligible for full New Zealand Superannuation at age 65 years, so long as they have lived here for 10 years.

“As they age they will also put pressure on other sectors of society such as our health system and retirement homes,” says Mr Peters.

The total number of immigrants in 2011/2012 was 40,448

ENDS

© Scoop Media

World Refugee Day:
Are We Doing Our Bit?

On World Refugee Day, Thursday June 20th, Doing Our Bit will officially launch a campaign to double New Zealand’s UNHCR Refugee Resettlement Quota...

New Zealand’s low refugee intake is not a new issue. In February a NZ Herald editorial commented that our intake was ‘paltry’, remarking that ‘surely we could do more’. In April, Amnesty International described the quota as ‘tiny'.

“Despite being a small country in the middle of the South Pacific, New Zealand prides itself on being hospitable. We are friendly to overseas visitors and we see ourselves as punching above our weight in international affairs,” said Murdoch Stephens, coordinator of Doing Our Bit.

“However, in terms of accepting refugees New Zealand is clearly not doing our share.” More>>