28/08/08 - Rich-poor pay gap shrinking - report

• Email a Friend

Thursday August 28, 2008

The report is published by the Ministry of Social development.

The pay gap between the rich and poor has shrunk for the first time in 20 years, according to a new report on the nation's social wellbeing.

But the Ministry of Social Development's 2008 Social Report also shows that housing affordability has worsened and there has been a marginal decline in the number of people engaged in tertiary study.

The annual report, released today, shows that at the end of 2007 a household edging into the top 20 per cent of income earners is 2.6 times better off than one sitting at the top edge of the bottom 20 per cent.

That is a fall from 2.7 per cent last year and the first fall since 1988, when the ratio sat at 2.2 per cent.

The report, which is compiled from a range of previously released statistics, also says there are fewer people living on lower incomes than 10 years ago.

In 2007, 13 per cent of people were deemed to living on low incomes compared with 22 per cent in 1997. Low incomes were defined as below 60 per cent of median income.

It says that between 2004 and 2007 incomes for low and middle income households grew strongly while incomes for the top 40 per cent grew by only 2 to 4 per cent.

Social Development Minister Ruth Dyson put the closing income gap down to the Government's Working For Families packages which boosts incomes for families with children.

MSD deputy chief executive Don Gray said historically low unemployment, which sat at 3.6 per cent at the end of 2007, was also a major factor.

Mr Gray said over the long-term social outcomes were improving. Several indicators also pointing to a reducing gap between Maori and Pacific Islanders and other groups, but the gaps in many areas were still large.

New Zealand surpassed or equalled the median among rich countries in two thirds of internationally comparable 22 indicators.

Findings in brief:

Improved
* income gap between rich and poor;
* proportion of people living on low incomes;
* unemployment (at end of 2007, but has since increased);
* employment;
* qualifications at bachelors degree level or above;
* qualifications for school leavers;
* median hourly earnings;
* life expectancy;
* smoking rates.

Worsened
* housing affordability;
* tertiary participation;
* road deaths and injuries;
* deaths from assaults;
* local election voter turnout;

No change
* obesity;
* perceived corruption in New Zealand;
* potentially hazardous driving;
* attainment of adults at upper secondary education or above.

Ms Dyson said the report showed New Zealanders overall wellbeing was improving.

"Overall this report shows that New Zealand's social wellbeing has made great strides in the past few years."

Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia said Maori also fared well in the report, with good gains in life expectancy, school qualifications and tertiary participation.

(Source NZ Herald - NZPA)

22/08/08 - Media Response DOL

• Email a Friend

22 August 2008

Response to New Zealand Herald article 22 August 2008  ‘Amnesty gives overstayers chance to return here’

The response below can be attributed to the Department of Labour

There is no general amnesty for overstayers.

The immigration information clinics reported in the New Zealand Herald today were a small pilot to encourage people in New Zealand unlawfully to come forward to discuss their options in a non-threatening environment.

The pilot involved Immigration New Zealand officials working with recognised contacts in the community to give free and frank information about the status of, and options available to, people unlawfully in New Zealand.

The pilot has been completed and is currently being evaluated with a view to looking at options for extending it through the wider community.

The Department has not changed any of its policies in respect of people unlawfully in New Zealand.

Clinic participants who leave New Zealand voluntarily and who intend to return here at some stage will need to apply to be considered under current policy. The fact that they have been unlawfully in New Zealand will not mean that their application is automatically declined. A person removed from New Zealand, rather than leaving voluntarily, is generally not permitted to return for five years.

Immigration New Zealand is always willing to discuss the status of anyone in New Zealand unlawfully. 

Anyone wanting to find out about their options should call (09) 918 4473 or 027 222 0231 for assistance.

Immigration staff will be available to provide advice to callers and answer any questions that they may have. Staff will assist callers to explore all options for resolving any outstanding immigration matters relevant to them. All calls will be treated sensitively and in confidence.

22/08/08 - Dept of Labour offers amnesties to overstayers

• Email a Friend

Friday August 22, 2008

Overstayers are being offered amnesties as Immigration New Zealand enlists the help of Asian community leaders to flush out illegal migrants.

Through a pilot programme, those identified as being unlawfully in New Zealand have been asked to attend education clinics where their immigration status is reassessed - and those asked to leave the country can reapply to return lawfully.

Generally, a person removed from NZ is not allowed back for five years.

"These people were advised that on attending the clinic, they would be assessed in a timely and professional manner without fear of having compliance action initiated against them," said a spokesman for the Department of Labour, which oversees immigration.

He said those advised that it was in their best interests to depart could do so "on the basis that there were no sanctions against their return".

"[We] have been working with contacts in the Auckland migrant communities on a pilot programme to encourage people unlawfully in New Zealand to come forward."

He said community leaders - who had been identified as advocates for people within their respective communities - had been asked to facilitate these meetings.

"A focus of the clinics was for them to be conducted in an environment that was culturally sensitive and where those unlawfully in New Zealand felt comfortable.

"They were not required to provide contact details or addresses."

So far, 30 illegal immigrants from Chinese and Indian communities have attended and a meeting is planned for Korean overstayers on Auckland's North Shore next week.

The department has described the pilot as "successful", especially in terms of developing relationships with migrant community leaders.

Last month, the Sikh community helped Immigration locate 20 of the 40 Indian pilgrims who disappeared while on stopovers in New Zealand before the Catholic World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney.

There are 17,485 illegal migrants in New Zealand - including 4198 Samoans, 2312 China nationals and 2294 Tongans.

In other Asian communities, those with the most overstayers are Malaysians (695), Indians (620) and South Koreans (573).

National immigration spokesman Lockwood Smith said last night: "Too many overstayers are afraid to come out for various reasons, and this seems like a sensible way to encourage them to come forward."

A Chinese overstayer, who didn't want to be identified, was keen to attend the clinic if invited because he wanted to go home.

The reason he had not gone to Immigration after his student visa expired was because he did not want to be blacklisted.

"I miss my family, but I have avoided going to Immigration because I don't want to be blacklisted on my passport, which could mean I can never visit another country," the restaurant worker said in Mandarin.

"Many overstayers don't want to stay on in New Zealand because life is hard - we get paid much less than the minimum wage."

(Source NZ Herald, by Lincoln Tan)

19/08/08 - Big snow dump hits the country

• Email a Friend

Tuesday, 19 August 2008

Three unusual weather events have combined to create a "polar outbreak" bringing some of New Zealand's heaviest snow in years.

Snow fell in areas of the Wellington region and on the Desert Road last night, while the South Island continues to shiver in the cold snap.

Snow was reported to have fallen on the Rimutaka Hill Road between Wellington and Wairarapa and in the Kapiti Coast township of Paekakariki.

However, MetService forecaster Ian Miller said reports of snow in the seaside town were likely false, although temperatures dropped to 4 degrees overnight and 1 degree briefly this morning.

"It was just hail. It's probably quite low in the hills but you can't get snow (beyond) a few wet flakes at that temperature. Nothing that would settle."

Meanwhile residents in the hilly suburbs of Christchurch were struggling to get to work this morning after snow overnight left some streets accessible by four-wheel-drive only.

At 9am it was snowing steadily in central Christchurch and children at Cashmere Primary School in the hill suburb were told to stay at home for the day because of the snow.

Many roads around Banks Peninsula and Port Hills had been closed by snow and ice.

A severe weather warning was renewed yesterday for snow until around noon today, with snow showers about Otago Peninsula and Banks Peninsula and a burst of heavy snow on the central North Island plateau.

To add to the wintry feel, a cold southerly wind is expected and may rise to gale force from late in the day through to Wednesday between Kaikoura and Hawke's Bay and through Cook Strait, bringing "enhanced rain" that may fall as snow on mountain ranges, the MetService said.

The mountain forecast to midnight Tuesday has southwesterly winds and snow showers in both the North and South Islands, with snow down to altitudes as low as 600m.

Snow was forecast tonight for the Lindis Pass and Porters Pass in the central South Island.

MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt said snowfalls had been heavy for three reasons:

The Tasman Sea had become a "breeding ground" for low-pressure systems since mid July.

The lows had often moved slowly, allowing more time for snow or rain to fall.

Cold air from the Southern Ocean had been drawn north and then over New Zealand, tipping the balance toward snow and away from rain.

The Department of Conservation's Turangi-Taupo area manager Dave Lumley said only experienced people able to evaluate avalanche hazards should be carrying out backcountry skiing, and alpine trampers should be particularly cautious and make sure they get up-to-date avalanche information.

"Travel in the back country should be limited to low angle terrain well away from any avalanche terrain," he said. A website (www.avalanche.net.nz) which posts up-to-date details on avalanche risks around the country has many regions rated as high risk.

The MetService said that since last Thursday there had been around 800mm of fresh snow on the central North Island mountains and a metre or more on the western slopes of the Southern Alps from Mount Cook northwards.

DOC's warning followed a rough weekend in the South Island where nine people were rescued from mountain areas which were hazardous, and alpine safety experts have spoken out about foolhardy expeditions into the backcountry.

Mt Ruapehu in the Central Plateau received the biggest snowfall in more than 20 years, staff said.

They had to shovel off more than two metres of snow that had gathered on service building roofs, threatening to collapse them.

The dump was so heavy, it buried the snow stake used to measure snowfall.

The mountain was open yesterday - some snow-buried lifts were closed - but both its ski-fields now boast snow bases of almost four metres.

Staff at Whakapapa and Turoa ski-fields have reported on their website that they are "snowed under" with work, with patrollers on "the immense task of avalanche control whilst everyone else will be digging".

(Source Greer McDonald - The Dominion Post with The Press and NZPA)

19/08/08 - Immigrant banker put $1.7m in Blue Chip

• Email a Friend

Tuesday August 19, 2008

A British investment banker who came to New Zealand for a better lifestyle invested $1.7 million in 19 apartments through Blue Chip. Now Neil and Michelle Hickman are pinning their hopes on court action to recover some of their losses.

Mr Hickman gave up his career as a successful investment banker and moved his family to New Zealand two years ago, intending to live off his wealth.

The Hickmans' immigration status depended on their putting money into New Zealand entities, and their investment in the now-failed Blue Chip property scheme qualified.

They, like at least 250 others, have been caught by a unique set of products Blue Chip sold - "joint ventures" and "premium income products" (PIPs) - which have left investors liable for buying apartments they don't want and can't afford.

With the apartment developments nearing completion, the investors are being asked to stump up for these properties - 18, in the Hickmans' case.

Barristers Paul Dale and Daniel Grove are seeking a High Court injunction to prevent developers of the first to be finished, the Barclay on Auckland's Albert St, from forcing the Blue Chip victims to settle.

Victims have cancelled their agreements and want their deposits back.

Completion is just three weeks away and Barclay developers the Greenstone Group say they are entitled to take over the deposits, currently being held in a trust account by Brookfields solicitors.

Messrs Dale and Grove have four other similar actions waiting in the wings. In total, the actions involve around 250 Blue Chip victims in Auckland apartment developments.

Mr Hickman has deposits on three apartments in the Barclay, eight in the Bianco complex in Turner St and seven in the Chatham development in Pitt St.

"There's no way, not in a million years did I want to buy these," he says.

"We came over here for this quality of life and I've been completely ruined by Blue Chip."

The 19th Blue Chip apartment is the one Mr Hickman feels most bitter about. The couple paid $690,000 for the property on Beach Rd which supposedly came with a guaranteed rental income. It has just been valued at $540,000. They have a $480,000 mortgage over it which rent does not cover.

In court yesterday Justice Judith Potter ordered that the Barclay case be given a priority hearing in the first week of next month.

Investors in the Blue Chip schemes were told that they would never have to buy the apartments.

They were paid a 16 per cent return on their deposits while the developments were being built, and were promised that Blue Chip would settle on the properties on completion. Their deposits would then be returned.

Mr Dale claimed in court that the Greenstone Group, which is also building the Chatham, was in league with Blue Chip: "There is quite powerful evidence that Greenstone and Blue Chip were hand in glove."

Once a wealthy man, Mr Hickman is being forced to leave his wife and three children to seek work back in England. The family have sold their Taupo section and are living in rented accommodation. Relatives are helping with expenses.

When Mr Hickman's Taupo Golf Club buddy and local Blue Chip agent Murray Kereama waxed lyrical about the merits of the scheme, he trusted him.

The two men still play at the club. They have not spoken since the Blue Chip collapse in February.

To top it all off, the Hickmans also invested $1 million in sections at the nearby Kinloch golf course. A large chunk of the development went to mortgagee sale last month.

"Talk about a bad year," Mr Hickman said

(Source NZ Herald, by Maria Slade)

12/08/08 - Asylum seeker Ali gets city bed

• Email a Friend

Tuesday, 12 August 2008

An Iranian asylum seeker has taken refuge in Hamilton while he waits to hear the outcome of his final appeal against deportation.

Ali Panah, who last year went on a 53-day hunger strike while being held at Auckland Remand Prison at Mt Eden, is staying at the Friary of Divine Compassion, part of the Anglican Church complex in Hillcrest.

His protest, started in July last year, was over his 20-month detention, enforced because of his refusal to sign travel documents for deportation to Iran, where he said he would be persecuted because he had converted to Christianity.

A man was reportedly lashed 34 times in Iran last August after being caught with a copy of the Bible in his car.

Mr Panah arrived at the Te Ara Hou Village Friary in Hillcrest on Saturday afternoon straight from Wellington, where he lodged his final appeal for asylum with Immigration New Zealand.

He had being staying at the Orakei Parish in Auckland with Rev Clive Sperring since the Government granted him bail last September.

However, Rev Sperring retired on Sunday and the parish could no longer support him.

So the Te Ara Hou Friary put up their hand to help.

"Our ethos is hospitality to anybody...so we take in the stranger," said the Friary's Brother Damian.

"We are willing to have him here as long as it takes, which is likely to be months, rather than weeks."

Mr Panah will remain at the Friary until a decision on his appeal is made.

Mr Panah was not a difficult person and was settling in well, Brother Damian said.

"He is certainly very grateful for all this and can't stop saying thank you. He prays a lot and spends a lot of time reading the Bible in both Persian and English."

He said Mr Panah could do voluntary work during his stay in the village.

He did not consider Mr Panah a dangerous man: "would we bring a dangerous man into this house?"

The Anglican Church, which has sponsored Mr Panah's bail, was concerned that any publicity could jeopardise his case and declined to allow the Times to speak directly with Mr Panah or photograph him.

Last year some people, most notably New Zealand First deputy leader Peter Brown, cast doubt on the genuineness of Mr Panah's conversion to Christianity.

The case is beginning to echo that of the highly-publicised plight of Algerian Ahmed Zaoui, who came to New Zealand in December 2002 and was immediately imprisoned for two years as a suspected terrorist.

Last December, after the Security Intelligence Service dropped their five-year objection to Zaoui claiming refugee status in New Zealand, he and his wife and four children moved out of the spotlight and into their first home in 14 years, in Auckland.

(Source Nicola Brennan - Waikato Times)

21/07/08 - NZ a 'giant transit lounge' for Australia

• Email a Friend

Monday, 21 July 2008

Immigrants are leaving New Zealand in droves, taking advantage of their newly gained citizenship benefits to move to Australia.

New Zealand has been described by UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne as "a giant transit lounge", with South Africans leading the charge across the Tasman.

Figures from the Labour Department, issued under the Official Information Act, show that nearly 20 per cent of the 37,000 New Zealanders who declared they were intending to remain in Australia either permanently or for at least a year were born outside New Zealand.

In 2003, 4187 citizens born outside New Zealand moved to Australia. By last year that figure had climbed to 7159 people.

The country of origin with the most departures was South Africa with 871, followed by India (696) and England (678).

The department does not hold figures on when the migrants became citizens, so this did not necessarily mean they were immigrants who shifted just after gaining citizenship.

Mr Dunne said more needed to be done to ensure immigrants adjusted to their new environment.

"Our immigration and resettlement policy is not effectively encouraging people to make long-term commitments."

He said though there was a "distinct minority" who came to New Zealand solely to gain citizenship for the purpose of entering Australia, most immigrants wanted to make the most of living here.

The Afrikaans Club of New Zealand chairman Philip Langenhoven said most South Africans he had encountered in New Zealand thought it was an "awesome place" to live and raise their children.

Most of those who moved across the Tasman were being attracted by new job opportunities.

"They've got skills to sell and are quite in demand, just like people from Britain or the United States are."

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove said: "There has never been such a globally competitive and mobile labour market as we are seeing today."

In the Wellington region, a settlement strategy was launched at the end of June. The intention is to help migrants find appropriate work, provide better information about New Zealand society and give access to English language training.

"The Government recognises that it must offer a world-class immigration service in order to keep attracting the migrants who we want and need, as well as maintaining secure borders and fulfilling our immigration-related international obligations," she said.

(Source BEN FAWKES - The Dominion Post)

02/08/08 - Rich migrants put off by rules

• Email a Friend

Saturday August 02, 2008

Investors are turning their backs on New Zealand as a place to live and bring their money.

The number of approved investor migrants dropped from 1326 in 2002 to one this year, members of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment heard yesterday.

National immigration spokesman Lockwood Smith, who spoke at the association's conference, told the Weekend Herald the active investor category would be the first thing to be revamped under National.

"We are missing out on investment dollars... changes to business migration is one of five key focuses of National's new immigration policy, which will be released soon."

Business NZ immigration adviser Nicholas Green says investors stopped coming after three policy changes in 2005.

The maximum age was lowered from 85 to 54, the minimum investment was doubled to $2 million and investors had to put their money in a Government infrastructural fund for five years.

"That effectively killed the flow. The Government undid some of those changes late last year, but they are obviously not having much impact."

The new policy, which took effect in November, kept the maximum age at 54 for investors bringing in the new minimum amount of $2.5 million, but raised the maximum age for those bringing in at least $10 million to 64 and abolished the age limit altogether for amounts above $20 million.

The requirement to invest with the Government was abolished.

Mr Green said it was hard to tell if the inflow was still low because investors had not yet heard about the changes, or whether they had been put off by other policies such as the decision to stop foreigners buying "strategic" assets such as Auckland Airport.

"We know that the Government's decisions on strategic assets have gone around the international investment community."

Association vice-chairman Kim Saull said the new requirements were "stupid and ridiculous".

"Who would want to come to New Zealand when the level of requirements for investor migrants to countries like the US, Australia and Canada are much lower?"

Korean immigration consultant Kenny Jeong, who put through15 applicants under the investorcategory in 2002, said he had struggled to get any interest from Korea since.

"The English language and amount makes it too hard. The Immigration Minister can't seem to understand that people do not see New Zealand as a place they will put $20 million. Many migrants see this country as a golf paradise and a good place to retire, not a place where they can do multimillion-dollar business."

Barfoot and Thompson commercial adviser Paul Gilberd said he had written to the minister, Clayton Cosgrove, suggesting changes but had not received a response.

"I have clients wanting to pump millions of dollars into New Zealand, but we have policies that are too vague and make it too hard for them to do that."

Institute members yesterday discussed campaigning for policy changes ahead of the election.

But Mr Cosgrove and the Department of Labour, which oversees immigration, said that changes were unlikely as the policy added value to the economy.

A Labour Department spokesman said policies should not be judged solely on the quantity of migrants because quality was also important - particularly in terms of economic contribution.

Mr Cosgrove said the Government had already received 23 expressions of interest under the new policy.

And the 12 applications received had the potential to bring up to $50.5 million in investments.

(Source NZ Herald, Lincoln Tan and Simon Collins)

01/08/08 - NZAMI Seminar Speech

• Email a Friend

1 August 2008 at Sorrento in the Park, One Tree Hill, Auckland

New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment Chairman, Richard Howard, and Association members; Alasdair Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of the Employers & Manufacturers Association and Conference Chairman; Arnold Conyer, National President of the Migration Institute of Australia; Bernie Waters, the Chief Executive Officer of the Migration Institute of Australia; the Registrar of the Immigration Advisers Authority Barry Smedts; my Parliamentary colleague, Dr Hon. Lockwood Smith; special guests; ladies and gentlemen.

Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here. Today I would like to discuss some of the immigration issues that face us as a nation. I will also outline the new developments and strategies in government policy that will ensure that we can continue to meet those challenges - to the benefit of all New Zealanders, including those professionals who work in this sector, such as the people in this room.

I do not need to tell members of this Association of the many ways immigration is important to New Zealand's economy, society and family units. It is after all your business and it is a business many of you have worked successfully in for years. But it is, I think, still helpful to sketch out in broad terms how nationally significant this business is. Let's look at the statistics.

Migrants and the economy

It is widely known that migrants make a major contribution to our economy, but not so widely recognised is quite how large that contribution is.

The Department of Labour’s report on The Fiscal Impacts of Immigration showed that the migrant population provided a net fiscal contribution of $3.3 billion in the year to 30 June 2006. This contribution is up by approximately 80% from 2003.

In addition to this is the economic contribution from international tourism, which was $8.8 billion for the year ending March 2007. And export education is the fourth largest export industry in New Zealand, and is worth over an estimated two billion dollars in foreign exchange each year.

Economic contribution

Migrants drive innovation, give our businesses international connections, and provide a range of skills to transform our economic landscape. Temporary workers enable our employers to fill their job vacancies when there are no New Zealanders available to take up the positions.

Over the past five years, migrants have accounted for 60 percent of the growth in the national workforce. Much of that growth has occurred in skill shortage areas — areas that are vital to the basic functioning and future growth of our economy. Without migration, many kiwi businesses would be like a four-cylinder engine running on only three cylinders – unable to maximize their potential, under strain and inefficient.

Migrant flows growing

The migration trends we are seeing are positive. Growth is occurring across all immigration categories. The latest Migration Trends report shows that temporary migration has continued to grow at a rate of around 18 percent a year over the past decade. In 2006/07, temporary work permits were issued to 115,500 people – 16 percent more than the year before.

More than 95,000 student visa and permit decisions were also made in 2006/07 – an increase of 10 percent compared to 2005/06. Since the introduction of the Skilled Migrant Category in 2003, there have been more than 105,000 people approved for residence under this policy, including more than 46,000 principal applicants.

Even more encouraging is the emerging trend we are seeing of the growing link between temporary and permanent migration. The vast majority of residence applicants —89 percent— previously held some form of temporary permit. This makes it easier for them to make well-informed choices about settling in New Zealand and helps ensure that migrants integrate into our communities.

The Association for Migration and Investment is part of that success story. Your involvement and commitment to prospective migrants and their families goes well beyond just making sure the forms have been filled in correctly. Support in shepherding prospective migrants through the application process, matching their skills to job opportunities and providing expert advice on a whole raft of settlement issues, such as housing, schooling and asset transfers, are a few examples of the kind of services you offer.

This sort of pastoral care is usually not associated with immigration consultancy but it is a critical component of the work you do. It’s the kiwi way of doing things, in terms of going the extra mile and giving a personal service. Keep up the good work.

International competition

In fact it is that kind of professional service that will help retain New Zealand's reputation as a preferred destination to live and work in.

We must now compete for skilled migrants in a global and increasingly mobile labour market. Competition with New Zealand for skilled workers is broadening beyond our traditional competitors such as Canada and Australia, to other countries such as those in the European Union.

Marketing New Zealand as a migrant destination has never been harder and the government recognises that to compete successfully we must offer first-class immigration services.

That is why we are here today. We are here to share insights into what we have achieved and learnt, and how we must plan for the future.

Competitive Immigration Systems

Immigration systems must be able to adapt quickly to changes to the global and national environment - to rapidly identify emerging opportunities and risks. Our immigration system has this capacity and is envied internationally for this.

To give a few examples; our points-based Skilled Migrant policy is flexible, and can be changed to reflect labour-market conditions and New Zealand's requirements.

The skill shortages list is also a responsive labour market mechanism. The government conducts a biannual review of the Long Term Skill Shortage List and the Immediate Skill Shortage List (ISSL) in which submissions to add, remove, or make amendments to occupations are considered. This review is employer-led, with input from the public. 

Our legislation is also flexible as it is framework legislation, meaning that the underlying policies contain most of the detail and requirements. What this means is that we do not have to make an amendment to the immigration legislation each time we want to amend a policy.  Where we identify a risk or need we undertake an appropriate policy process to respond.  This is a quicker and more streamlined process that having to undertake a legislative amendment.

In comparable countries such as the UK, Australia and Canada, their immigration policies are not so responsive as the detail is set in the legislation.

That said, there is still room for improvement within our immigration processes, and the government is working hard to deliver a system that will better serve New Zealanders and migrants, and into the future. We need to anticipate the opportunities and challenges ahead if we are to stay on top.

Immigration Change Programme

In this context, the Government has been working to deliver a comprehensive Immigration Change Programme. This comprises three components.

Legislative change is the first essential of this programme.

As you know, the Immigration Advisers Act 2007 has already passed into law and the Immigration Advisors Authority is now up and running. The Immigration Bill has been reported back by to the House by the Select Committee and I hope to see it enacted before the end of this year.  

Secondly, this new legislation will be supported by policy changes. As I mentioned before, this will ensure that we can adapt to changing circumstances. Our policies must meet national interests and the expectations of those we seek to attract as prospective migrants. If we don’t do that they will simply look elsewhere — immigration is an internationally competitive business.

The third component of the Immigration Change Programme focuses on how we deliver immigration services. The ten proposals that Cabinet decided on cover both the ICT components of our immigration business, as well as security and service delivery aspects.

The broad strategic direction for security and service delivery is to move from a reactive, border-focussed activity to one that proactively seeks the migrants we want, keeps out those we don’t, and where we make consistent immigration decisions based on risk and value. This is backed by our settlement support operations, which ensure the migrants we have attracted here feel welcome, integrate well into our society and make New Zealand their permanent home.

Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007

A key part of attracting the migrants we want and need is being able to ensure that immigration support services are professionally run by ethical, competent people.
The passing of the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 was a crucial step in ensuring this happens.

The Act has brought in significant changes. Before the new law, anyone could call himself or herself an immigration adviser. In the past, a small number of incompetent and/or unethical practitioners damaged the reputation of the industry. In some cases of incompetent or unethical practices by an adviser, applicants suffered serious financial loss due to high fees and unsuccessful settlement in New Zealand.  Some also suffered damage to careers, family dislocation, significant personal hardship and were unable to gain approval to re-enter New Zealand.

The legislation and the Authority will ensure that unscrupulous operators are not allowed to practice as immigration advisers. It will be compulsory to be licensed as an immigration adviser onshore from May 2009, and offshore from May 2010.

The Immigration Advisers Authority benefits us all

These improvements will have flow on benefits for New Zealand. They will confirm the integrity of New Zealand’s immigration system and help us attract the migrants we need. We will be seen as a country that operates according to defined standards and is concerned to ensure that the interests of prospective migrants are managed by trustworthy and competent advisers who are licensed by an independent body — the Immigration Advisors Authority.

The establishment of the Immigration Advisers Authority shows that New Zealand is committed to ensuring that migrants are given the best advice by the best people and that there are regulatory measures in place to maintain professional standards, including the Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal.

I want to publicly acknowledge and thank your Association for its valuable support over this initiative. I am especially grateful to those members involved in the various reference groups that helped develop the immigration adviser competency standards and a code of conduct. More recently, your members have helped develop the Authority’s assessment and evidence processes. I also understand that members just recently participated in a focus group on professional development policy. As a result of your contribution, the Authority will be sending out a discussion paper in August.

The Act represents a win-win situation for us all – for migrants, for immigration advisers, for industry and for New Zealand. Migrants can now trust and rely on the accurate and sound professional advice licensed immigration advisers provide. Trustworthy and proficient operators are protected by law and supported in their professional development. The industry’s reputation is enhanced as its work is seen as regulated and having high standards of professionalism.

The Immigration Advisers Authority has been accepting applications since May. To date more than 400 people have attended licensing workshops around New Zealand, and there are approximately 700 people signed up to receive newsletters and information from the Authority. That is a very encouraging result, and no doubt the NZAMI has had a huge role to play in raising awareness.

The Authority has been issuing licences, and is processing more. The momentum is clearly underway. A public register of licensed advisers has been established on the Authority’s website. This transparent approach shows all migrants who are thinking of making New Zealand their home that this is a country that demands high standards in its immigration services.

Role of Immigration in Decision-making

I believe that it is important to acknowledge that while there has been tightening up of standards with the introduction of licensing immigration advisers, I want to assure you that those same high standards are demanded by the government from Immigration New Zealand. Immigration staff must also be responsible and held accountable for their role in immigration decision-making.  As I am sure all of you are aware, there are currently several reviews underway into the historical actions of immigration staff, and the way this was handled by the Department. It is appropriate for these reviews to run their course to enable full and factual information to be placed before Ministers.  The government will be taking the findings seriously and will act to make any improvements to any issues identified.

While we expect immigration advisers to act in accordance with certain standards, it is equally important that we have standards for our immigration staff.  Adequate training and support will be an important feature of this.

The Immigration Bill

I would also like to thank you for your involvement with our cornerstone piece of legislation – the rewrite of the Immigration Act 1987. The Immigration Bill is the result of extensive consultation both with members of your industry and a wide range of social and commercial interests. This has included key Crown Entities, immigration lawyers and of course employers, businesses, and the organisations that represent them. The government has also received submissions from members of the public and a number of social interest groups.

This has been important because we want this Bill to become a piece of legislation that works for all New Zealanders. The Act review has taken a few years because we needed to sound out both professional and public opinion to make sure we got the balance right. It was a process that couldn’t be rushed; it had to be done appropriately. And I believe we have achieved that. The Immigration Bill provides a framework that balances the rights of the individual and the national interest. Importantly, it also enables us to successfully fulfil our immigration-related international obligations.

The government’s goal is that the legislation is passed this year, and that it is implemented one year after enactment. In the interim, we will ensure that robust transitional processes are put in place and everyone knows how the new legislation will impact on them.

New Policy settings

Dovetailing in with our major legislative changes are our evolving policy settings. We need to respond innovatively to changes in global conditions if we are to fill skill and labour gaps, manage security risks, and ensure migrants settle and integrate well.

In this context, we have recently concluded reviews of our Skilled Migrant and Temporary Work policies. Obviously, the outcome of these reviews is of interest to your members and I will provide a brief outline of some of proposed changes.

Temporary Work policies

The Government has just introduced a new temporary work policy that encourages the recruitment of highly-skilled overseas workers and better protects the jobs of New Zealanders who work in lower-skilled professions.

The new Essential Skills policy replaced the current General work policy from 28 July 2008. It means that applications for work permits in lower-skilled and higher-skilled occupations are now treated differently.

The former temporary work policy was developed in a time of higher unemployment for employers to use to recruit workers for skilled occupations.  However, with the tight labour market, employers have used it to fill lower-skilled jobs.  This new policy will allow that to continue, but it is designed to provide greater assurance that local unemployed people are considered first for these lower-skilled jobs.  This 'Kiwis first' principle is fundamental to the new policy.

Under the new policy, Immigration New Zealand will continue to do labour market checks for all applications, but will do an additional check with Work and Income before issuing any work permits or visas to people wanting to fill positions in lower-skilled occupations. This is to ensure there are not unemployed New Zealanders available who could take up the work.

Labour market checks include whether the occupation is listed on either the Long Term Skill Shortage list or the Immediate Skill Shortage list, or if the employer can show that they have made a genuine attempt to recruit a New Zealander.  Immigration New Zealand will accept that as evidence of a lack of New Zealanders to do the job.  Employers are required to pay the market rate for an occupation.

The only exception to this requirement is if Work and Income advises that an absolute regional labour shortage exists for a particular industry.  These generally apply to seasonal industries.

The process for employers lodging applications is the same, but employers are encouraged to approach Work and Income first to help speed up the application.

The other changes will allow employers to recruit highly-skilled employees for longer.  We have created a new one-off, five-year work permit for highly-skilled employees whose job will pay at least the same as the residence salary under the Accredited Employer policy.  Currently that is an annual salary of $55,000.

Twenty per cent of firms say that the lack of suitably skilled people is the main constraint on their expansion, and this new permit will give employers more incentive to hire highly-skilled workers from overseas.  If these workers want to stay beyond the five years, they can apply for further three-year permits, which they can already do under current policy.

Skilled Migrant Category

There have also been improvements made to the Skilled Migrant Category, which is the major route by which skilled migrants are approved permanent residence in New Zealand. Recent research shows that it is working well.

Employment amongst skilled migrants is high with 93 percent securing employment within six months of obtaining residency. Job satisfaction is also high with over 80 percent of skilled migrants reporting that they are working at the same or higher skill level than in their home country.

Employer satisfaction is also commendably high with 81 percent of employers reporting that they are satisfied with the performance of skilled migrants. Retention rates are also encouraging with 87 percent of skilled migrants happy with New Zealand as a place to live and only 17 percent of the principal applicants approved between 1997 and 2005 have left for six months or more.

A recent OCED study found that New Zealand is better at matching immigrants to jobs than any of the other 17 countries surveyed. The report - A Profile of Immigrant Populations in the 21st Century: Data from OECD Countries, 2008 - rates New Zealand as best among OECD countries in matching immigrants with available jobs. This is demonstrated by New Zealand having the lowest proportion (9%) of immigrants holding jobs for which they are overqualified.

However, we cannot afford to be complacent, so the government has made a number of policy improvements over the past year.

We have developed a more transparent definition of skilled employment and revised the bonus points system to better match market needs. The work to residence period has been increased from six to nine months with a longer period available before Skilled Migrants have to arrive in the country.

Students are also accessing the pathways post qualification to stay on and contribute to New Zealand. These pathways enable students eligible for the Skilled Migrant Category to access a one year open work permit, followed by a two year permit if they get a job in their skill area.

And the Department of Labour is working with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to broaden the countries and types of qualifications on the existing list of Recognised Qualifications.  This will help to speed up processes around recognising migrants’ qualifications.

Active Investor Migrant Policy

A final policy area I would like to touch on is the Active Investor Migrant Policy that was introduced at the end of November 2007. The new policy is designed to provide residence to a small number of business people who want to invest in New Zealand firms. It changed the focus under the old investor policy from passive investment, to more active investment, where the money and the investors’ knowledge is likely to have the most benefit for New Zealand.

I think it is important to be clear about the rationale behind the new Investor policy.  I know the National Party criticised this policy at the Lexis Nexis conference last week.  But let’s move from the rhetoric to what this policy is actually designed to do.  It is not about approving vast numbers of migrants – as was the case under National’s Investor policy where migrants had to invest only $1 million – enough for a nice house in Auckland, and simply place it into a bank account where it was of no benefit to New Zealand.  Not to mention the money-go-round scams and poor settlement outcomes of those Investor migrants.  This new Investor policy acts in New Zealand’s interests with a much stronger focus on active investments that add value to our economy.

While the policy is still new, the government has already received 23 expressions of interest, and 20 invitations to apply have been issued to date.  One of these is for the Global Investor policy, which requires migrants to invest $20 million in New Zealand. Of the 12 applications received to date, they have the potential to bring up to $50.5 million in investments to New Zealand.  So already we are seeing some good results.

Conclusion

The government’s Immigration Change Programme is all about practical steps to make New Zealand’s immigration policy more effective. This makes your business as immigration advisors easier. Neither these practical improvements in the way we do day-to-day business, nor the ambitious legislative changes we are putting in place, would have been possible without the expertise furnished by the people here today.

We appreciate the support your Association and many of its individual members have provided in the development of new policies and legislation. A spirit of cooperation has informed all these changes, and made them relevant and workable. I look forward to continuing to work with you in this very same spirit as we face even greater challenges in the years ahead.

24/07/08 - National calls business migrant policy a failure

• Email a Friend

Thursday July 24, 2008

The business migration policy is a "total failure", says National's immigration spokesman Lockwood Smith, who wants a new management culture to restore credibility at Immigration New Zealand.

He was speaking at an immigration law conference yesterday, shortly after Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove addressed changes to the Immigration Bill, which was reported back to Parliament this week.

"Change is required to both immigration policy ... and to the very culture within Immigration New Zealand itself," Dr Smith said. "It is also no state secret that the business migrant policy has been a total failure."

He said National was finalising its immigration policy, which would aim to attract expatriates home, better match immigrants' skills with employment needs and restore confidence in the integrity of Immigration New Zealand.

Dr Smith said the continuing exodus was one of the biggest worries for this country.

More than 80,000 New Zealanders headed overseas permanently in the last 12 months - the second highest ever. The loss to Australia was the highest on record. An estimated 800,000 Kiwis live abroad and it's been reckoned that we lose 32 per cent of our tertiary-trained workforce."

He also hinted that the Department of Labour might not oversee immigration under a National-led government.

"A new management culture is required, and I question whether that can be achieved while the immigration service is just a section of the Department of Labour.

"Recently, we've seen some of the problems that have in part resulted from the fact that the head of Immigration New Zealand is not at chief executive level in our public service system."

The two-day conference at the SkyCity Convention Centre is chaired by immigration expert Rodger Haines. Participants have been given insights into an update of the skilled migrant policy, classified information and the immigration profiling group.

Mr Cosgrove, in his ministerial address, said the reporting back of the Immigration Bill by the transport and industrial relations committee marked "the biggest rewrite of immigration law for two decades".

As global competition for skilled migrants heated up it was important for New Zealand to have systems in place to attract "the people we want and need".

"Skill shortages are a concern and if left unchecked, this shortage can threaten economic growth. Immigration is a vital ingredient in New Zealand's ongoing economic development. Migrants drive innovation, give our businesses international connections, and provide a range of skills to transform our economic landscape."

Mr Cosgrove said migrants made up 60 per cent of the workforce growth in the past five years, and tourists contributed $18.6 billion to the economy in 2006.

He also said more immigrants on temporary permits were wanting to stay permanently.

(Source Herald Marketplace, Lincoln Tan)