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After an extraordinary period in which immigration soared to new records, the numbers have been exhausted.
“There was a day when no one left the country and no one entered,” says RNZ immigration reporter Gill Bonnett. That is what the blockade and the closed borders did.
“It’s a little weird.”
RNZ
Immigration Spokespersons in the 2020 Election Campaign (Left to Right): Kris Faafoi from Labor; Stuart Smith of the National Party; Golriz Ghahraman of the Greens; ACT’s James McDowall and NZ First frontman Winston Peters.
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Prior to this, we had a 12-month record through June, when there was a net gain of 79,400 migrants, described by Bonnett as “monumental.”
Even though all is quiet at the border today, distinguished Massey University sociologist Professor Paul Spoonley says we need to have conversations now about our immigration policy.
“One of the difficulties that the new government is going to face is that they are going to have people knocking on its door; Universities like mine that want to see a resumption of international students, or employers that are going to say, ‘Look, we can’t move again unless we have immigrants.’
Even with everything Covid has thrown at us, unemployed New Zealanders will do nothing to alleviate the skills shortage we face.
“Immigration will somehow have to be part of our rebuilding.”
123RF
After an extraordinary period in which immigration soared to new records, the numbers have been exhausted.
But Spoonley cautions that without proper population planning and a debate on immigration, the economy will be seriously affected: cities that stagnate or contract will lose more people; Industries that rely heavily on migrant labor, including elderly care and horticulture, will suffer.
Bonnett talks to The details Sharon Brettkelly on the immigration policies of the political parties and Spoonley explains the events that led to the immigration records and the urgent need for action.
But he says we don’t get anything from political parties about what the future of immigration might look like.
Bonnett says policies and campaigns around immigration are quiet compared to 2017. Workers and nationals focus on the border, Greens want fairer treatment for immigrants, the Act wants to attract ‘extraordinarily skilled people , investors and other productive people ‘to New Zealand. New Zealand First says it’s time to reboot.
Bonnett says New Zealand is two countries when it comes to immigration.
“If you take those smaller communities, their immigration problems are quite similar to many countries that have historically had very low immigration and that are now trying to attract immigrants because otherwise they will die.
“Countries like Japan, for example, where there is a population that is aging so much that now they have had to approach countries like Germany and say: ‘Please come and work in our country.’ There are places in New Zealand that are like this. “
Meanwhile, the government recently implemented a series of immigration policy changes to help fill labor shortages in key industries while ensuring that New Zealanders, who have lost their jobs to Covid-19, have the right to opportunity to find a new job.
The Seasonal Supplemental Employment (SSE) visa will automatically be issued to around 11,000 New Zealand work and holiday visa holders with visas that expire between November 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021. These visas will allow them work in horticulture and viticulture functions, where there are not enough New Zealanders available to do this job.
Minister Kris Faafoi said the changes would help fill roles that New Zealanders cannot fill in the short term, while the industry works on other solutions.
But a leading fruit picking organization, New Zealand Apples and Pears, says that even with the changes there won’t be enough workers for the February harvest.
