Labour's leader says the Prime Minister is embracing the "anti-migrant rhetoric" of his coalition partners Act and New Zealand First.
Christopher Luxon told business leaders in Auckland yesterday that immigration was an emerging political issue, and his National party would put social cohesion ahead of business profits.
Speaking to reporters after his 'State of Auckland' speech today, Labour's Chris Hipkins said Luxon is buying into a view on immigration that isn't true.
"Christopher Luxon is clearly embracing the anti-migrant rhetoric that his coalition partners are adopting and he should be pushing against it - not trying to appease it."
Hipkins said migrants brought a huge amount to New Zealand, and the country did not have to choose between immigration and profitability for businesses.
'Solution to a problem that doesn't exist'
A demographer believes Prime Minister Luxon is promising a solution to an immigration problem that does not exist.
Paul Spoonley, a senior fellow at independent think-tank Koi Tū and distinguished professor emeritus, said while immigration had become a polarising issue globally, that was not necessarily the case in New Zealand.
Immigration had risen a bit as an issue, he said, but it was not a top 10 concern for New Zealanders - as identified in the latest Ipsos issues monitor. He said polling showed the majority of Kiwis viewed immigration positively.
"I can only assume that the Prime Minister is beginning to react to his two coalition partners, both of whom seem to want to make immigration a central issue for the coming election, but also to see immigration as somehow being divisive and an issue for New Zealanders. I don't think it is."
New Zealand's points-based system was strict compared to many other OECD countries where immigration had become polarising, he said.
"They're dealing with high numbers of refugees and asylum seekers. We are not. We [have] an economically-focused skills-based system, so we are very selective."
He wanted to see more extensive programmes to help immigrants better settle and said such work was important for social cohesion.
"We are one of the most super-diverse countries in the world - 30 percent of us are born overseas; in Auckland 43 percent are born overseas.
"By and large, it works really well. So what is the problem, or what is the issue here that the Prime Minister thinks we need to address?"
While New Zealand did a "pretty good job" recruiting and selecting migrants, that did not mean there should not be debates about immigration - particularly around net migration numbers which had been volatile in recent years, he believed.
Aged care workforce 'reliant' on skilled migrants
Tracey Martin, a former New Zealand First Minister, now Aged Care Association CEO, told RNZ's Morning Report programme today she found Luxon's speech to be "slightly confusing" with "quite a lot of contradictions".
"The suggestion is that those sectors that rely on migrant labour are doing so just because its cheap and they want to make money and that is, you know categorically untrue for the aged residential care sector."
She said according to a BERL sector profile study, about 43% of the registered nurses working in aged residential care were on visas, with around one third of health caregivers on visas.
"We are exceptionally reliant upon the highly skilled migrants because they are highly skilled."
Martin said the workforce they bring in had to have the right skillset, with a requirement of at least three years of relevant work experience or a level four qualification, or the equivalent.
With 5.3% unemployment in New Zealand, Martin said they want to employ Kiwis, but the work in aged residential care was not easy and neither was finding workers.
She said the government was "naive" in thinking it was possible to take someone from unemployment who does not have the right experience or qualification and have them work with a "really vulnerable population that needs high level healthcare."
Luxon's speech focused on social cohesion and stability and Martin said their workforce was in no way a threat to that sentiment.
"Actually, without it I'm not quite sure what would happen to our social stability with regards to looking after our elderly.
"They're pulling more than their weight at the moment because of the lack of planning by government around this particular population demographic."
As a former NZ First minister she said the party's leader, Winston Peters, had often said in regard to immigration that it was about "people we need, not who need us".
"Well, this workforce in aged residential care we need desperately and the way to stop having this political conversation is to have a population plan."
Hospitality wants details
Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Kristy Phillips said the devil would be in the detail of National's immigration policy and businesses were keen to know what "careful" meant.
"Does careful equal workforce enabling policy and operational survival for our members?"
Effort was going into training local talent but the industry relied on skilled migrants to fill gaps in the workforce, she said.
"It's already difficult for workers to maintain roles and gain pathways to residency within the hospitality industry in New Zealand.
"We would be hoping that this 'careful' plan does not make that any harder."
Residency pathways were integral to the sector's long-term workforce stability, she believed.
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz |  |
