Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
12 OCTOBER 2016

Woodhouse’s Weasel Words And Actions Only Cosmetic

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse’s spineless about face on immigration is a cosmetic temporary measure to just get National through to the next general election, says New Zealand First Leader and Northland Member of Parliament Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“It’s obvious alarm bells are ringing in the National cabinet as they confront an immigration disaster of their own making.

“The parent category has been nothing more than an appalling drain on the state with taxpayers having to foot the bills, which would not be tolerated anywhere else in the world.

“By just temporarily closing the parent category to deal with a backlog, Mr Woodhouse and National are again treating New Zealand taxpayers as gullible mugs who can be easily fobbed off.

“Only in August, Mr Woodhouse said the migration settings were just right and refused to review low-skilled migration levels. There are well in excess of 70,000 people parked up in this country now waiting to go on that skilled worker list when they simply do not have the skills that New Zealand industry and commerce needs. It’s a massive disconnect based on priming consumption numbers and ignoring social and economic realities.

“In July, Prime Minister Key said they would stick to the immigration plan they’ve got.

“The impact of bringing in the population of New Plymouth every year as permanent residents is boiling over with hospitals struggling to cope, Kiwis struggling to get homes and jobs and it cannot be ignored.

“The only way to take the pressure off is to drag immigration back to sustainable levels – around 10,000 permanent residents a year,” Mr Peters says.

ENDS

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