Kiwis the Losers in Competition with Migrants for Jobs

The government has confirmed record immigration is taking jobs from Kiwis, says New Zealand First.

The warning on immigration came from Social Development Minister Anne Tolley who says: “We must be careful we don’t fill up all the spaces with immigrants.”

“The Minister is saying publicly what National has refused to act on. By allowing record immigration, at over 100,000 people a year, it’s inevitable competition for jobs and housing will soar,” says New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters. “It’s not as though there is an abundance of jobs available in New Zealand.

“Everyone can see the migrant workforce is growing rapidly. Service stations and supermarket counters are manned by foreign workers, thousands of foreign ‘construction’ workers have poured in for the Christchurch Rebuild, and the dairy industry has a sea of foreign employees.

“These low-skilled jobs are snapped up by international students, who National has allowed work permits, and record migrant numbers staying each year. However, we have an official unemployment rate of 140,000 and thousands on casual and part-time work.

“New Zealand First believes it’s long since time to ‘take a breather’ from flooding the country with people and concentrate on getting New Zealanders into work and taking the heat out of the rental and home ownership market.

“The-OECD warns we have an unmanaged flow of temporary workers, the biggest among 34 OECD countries, and it says it is potentially bad for New Zealanders’ job chances.

“Mrs Tolley says there is a need for a ‘balance’ between immigration and employer demand, but National has picked the easy option to keep wages and conditions down.

“At the same time National is trying to push people off benefits when the few jobs are snapped up by migrants, many of whom will accept any conditions, as has as been revealed in Christchurch.

“Mrs Tolley may well think that it’s a ‘pretty good lifestyle’ on the North Island’s east coast where she says people can “get a little bit of dole, a cash crop and good kaimoana’.

“It’s time for Mrs Tolley to take a road trip. As physically beautiful as the east coast is the small towns are full of derelict buildings revealing a prosperity that has long gone. What’s Mrs Tolley’s grand plan for job creation there?

“Mrs Tolley probably had a foot-in-the-mouth moment, brought on by a long holiday, but we now know that the government understands that record immigration is causing problems. Their inaction is obviously about playing politics. The sad reality is that New Zealanders are the victims,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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