Hard Work and Persistence wins the day
Immigrants have always been an integral element of New Zealand society. Their contributions make our economy stronger, and they add immense value to other walks of Kiwi life, be it in sport or academia.
In the past 18 months, as New Zealand has battled Covid 19, the selfless work of migrants across all essential services has again highlighted their immense involvement in our fight against this virus. In return for their tireless service, all most of them were getting from this so-called caring Government was uncertainty and non-responsiveness when it came to their Visa status.
Finally, after a long time and after causing a lot of stress to individuals, families and economic disruption, the Government has bowed down to sustained pressure from migrants and the business sector.
They have announced a one-off, simplified pathway to residence in the coming months for an estimated 165,000 migrants currently in New Zealand. This means that these hard-working and skilled individuals can finally hope to call New Zealand home permanently. National Party has always proudly championed the cause of the migrants. The past 18 months we have endeavoured to provide them another platform to air their genuine concerns through to the Government. From Auckland to Christchurch, we have been there, standing beside these skilled and law-abiding people.
This announcement albeit welcome, still does not address the issue of Kiwi residents and people with valid work visas of New Zealand stuck overseas in countries like India. This is because the government cannot seem to run our managed isolation facilities. National party has recently released a comprehensive plan on how to better manage the pandemic and safely reopen our borders. We would welcome the Government borrowing ideas from it, as they did from our immigration plans. The least we can expect from this government is to acknowledge the pain and misery of thousands wishing to return to New Zealand from India are going through? To create and share a plan to reunite these families and get their skills back in our economy. But their abysmal track record on this front suggests otherwise. The next challenge for this Government is to deliver on their promise to immigrants and process all eligible residency applications in the next year. Going by their past form -this looks like an impossible task.
But as a responsible opposition, National Party will be there holding the government to account and trying our best to ensure that immigrants receive what is lawfully theirs. Another grey area this policy seems to have overlooked is that it promised residency to successful immigrant families, but what if that family is overseas? What, if any, provisions are there to get them into New Zealand?
Presently even the Permanent Residents are not eligible to return to New Zealand. Words cannot express the immense gratitude we have for all the work and efforts being put in by immigrants in these trying times. You deserve all the accolades for this decision of the government. Hard work and persistence pay off – this saying has been proved right yet again.
Immigrants have always been an integral element of New Zealand society. Their contributions make our economy stronger, and they add immense value to other walks of Kiwi life, be it in sport or academia.
In the past 18 months, as New Zealand has battled Covid 19, the selfless work of migrants across...
Immigrants have always been an integral element of New Zealand society. Their contributions make our economy stronger, and they add immense value to other walks of Kiwi life, be it in sport or academia.
In the past 18 months, as New Zealand has battled Covid 19, the selfless work of migrants across all essential services has again highlighted their immense involvement in our fight against this virus. In return for their tireless service, all most of them were getting from this so-called caring Government was uncertainty and non-responsiveness when it came to their Visa status.
Finally, after a long time and after causing a lot of stress to individuals, families and economic disruption, the Government has bowed down to sustained pressure from migrants and the business sector.
They have announced a one-off, simplified pathway to residence in the coming months for an estimated 165,000 migrants currently in New Zealand. This means that these hard-working and skilled individuals can finally hope to call New Zealand home permanently. National Party has always proudly championed the cause of the migrants. The past 18 months we have endeavoured to provide them another platform to air their genuine concerns through to the Government. From Auckland to Christchurch, we have been there, standing beside these skilled and law-abiding people.
This announcement albeit welcome, still does not address the issue of Kiwi residents and people with valid work visas of New Zealand stuck overseas in countries like India. This is because the government cannot seem to run our managed isolation facilities. National party has recently released a comprehensive plan on how to better manage the pandemic and safely reopen our borders. We would welcome the Government borrowing ideas from it, as they did from our immigration plans. The least we can expect from this government is to acknowledge the pain and misery of thousands wishing to return to New Zealand from India are going through? To create and share a plan to reunite these families and get their skills back in our economy. But their abysmal track record on this front suggests otherwise. The next challenge for this Government is to deliver on their promise to immigrants and process all eligible residency applications in the next year. Going by their past form -this looks like an impossible task.
But as a responsible opposition, National Party will be there holding the government to account and trying our best to ensure that immigrants receive what is lawfully theirs. Another grey area this policy seems to have overlooked is that it promised residency to successful immigrant families, but what if that family is overseas? What, if any, provisions are there to get them into New Zealand?
Presently even the Permanent Residents are not eligible to return to New Zealand. Words cannot express the immense gratitude we have for all the work and efforts being put in by immigrants in these trying times. You deserve all the accolades for this decision of the government. Hard work and persistence pay off – this saying has been proved right yet again.
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