Media Release

30 August 2001

Prime Minister Issues Clear Invitation to Asylum Seekers - Peters

The Rt Hon Winston Peters MP, Leader of New Zealand First, today said that the Prime Minister’s comments that hundreds of asylum seekers on a Norwegian cargo ship off Christmas Island would be allowed into New Zealand if the boat came our way is sending a clear invitation for just that to happen.

“Refugee camps cost a fortune whilst trying to sort out whether the refugees are genuine or not. Over the years New Zealanders have become a soft touch for these sorts of things – determining our immigration policy on an ad hoc basis. Moreover, there is significant criminality in New Zealand’s big cities today as a result of totally inadequate security checks on immigrants in the late 80s and 90s and that has continued despite numerous warnings by those in the know.

“Four years ago New Zealand was threatened with a similar influx of two boat loads of asylum seekers from Asia. As Deputy Prime Minister, I did not believe we should have let them enter New Zealand and my view has not changed since then,” said Mr Peters.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On The Government's Assault On Maori

This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that Luxon plans to roll back the progress made here over the past 40 years in race relations... More