31 July 2013

Government Fiddles Parental Reunion Figures

Rt Hon Winston Peters has accused the Government of hiding thousands of parent category applications to manipulate immigration figures from China downwards.

In Parliament today Mr Peters questioned a Government claim that “parent numbers from China have halved.” (Woodhouse 28 March 2013)

“The Government has been stockpiling parent category applications because of New Zealand First pressure to stop paying full Superannuation to immigrants who have been here only ten years.

“We have evidence that 5,500 parent category applications are backlogged at Immigration New Zealand, ready to be processed when the Government thinks it can get away with dumping thousands more immigrants into Auckland.

“This is a deliberate ploy to conceal the real parent reunion numbers from China and is grossly unfair to immigrants from other countries and long suffering New Zealand taxpayers.”

Mr Peters says the situation has been caused by the lack of government response to China’s one child policy and New Zealand is in danger of becoming a rest home for people who have never paid a cent of tax in this country.

“This situation cannot continue. The Government must front up and explain why thousands of parental reunion applications are being hidden in an office at Immigration New Zealand.

ENDS

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