‘Greens have the ambition of being the most migrant-friendly party in Parliament and I am sorry for any effect our policy announcements of last year may have had on your communities’: James Shaw, Co-leader, Green Party
- He was speaking at the New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils (MNZ) 28th AGM and Immigration Symposium in Dunedin on Saturday, July 1
The event, which was also attended by National list MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, and Labour's immigration spokesman Mr Iain Lees-Galloway, provided a chance to major political parties (New Zealand First was not present) to put forward their stand on immigration.
And to Mr Shaw's credit, he was forthright with his comments.
“We in the Greens are deeply concerned that the debate about immigration policy in New Zealand has, over the course of time, come to be dominated by populist politicians preaching a xenophobic message in order to gain political advantage. This ugly strain of political discourse is quieter at times of low net migration into New Zealand but rises at times of when net migration is high – as it is now, and so, at this election, sadly, the xenophobic drum is beating louder,” Mr Shaw said.
“Last year I made an attempt to try and shift the terms of the debate away from the rhetoric and more towards a more evidence-based approach. We commissioned some research which indicated that immigration settings would be best if tied to population growth. Unfortunately, by talking about data and numbers, rather than about values, I made things worse. Because the background terms of the debate are now so dominated by anti-immigrant rhetoric, when I dived into numbers and data, a lot of people interpreted that as pandering to the rhetoric, rather than trying to elevate the debate and pull it in a different direction. We were mortified by that, because, in fact, the Greens have the ambition of being the most migrant-friendly party in Parliament. And I am sorry for any effect it may have had on your communities,” he added.
On his part, Iain Lees-Galloway repeated the stand taken by Labour leader Andrew Little adding, “Labour is pro-immigration, but we need to take a break till the infrastructure catches up. Let's focus on real issues.”
Mr Bakshi replied with a firm assertion that his party – National – has always advocated for migrants and their rights in New Zealand. “We are working very hard to ensure that the exploitation of migrants in New Zealand stops. We also think that given the limitations of our resources, our refugee quota is adequate.”
The Immigration Symposium also had a panel session attended by Ngai Tahu chief executive Arihia Bennett, Dunedin city councillor Marie Laufiso, Christchurch city councillor Jimmy Chen, Wellington-based Immigration Lawyer Kamil Lakshman and representatives from NZ Dairy.
The discussion points included the country's current immigration policy settings, the costs and benefits of immigration to New Zealand, and how immigration impacts housing affordability. Overall, the panellists demanded a better clarity on everybody's role – central and local governments, communities and immigrants themselves – in helping new migrants settle in New Zealand.
Mr Pancha Narayanan, a Malaysian-Indian, and newly-elected President of MNZ, then elaborated on the pathway to a treaty-based multicultural community, a pilot he has been running in his capacity as the President of the Upper Hutt Multicultural Council.
Later, Judi Altinkaya, National Manager Settlement, Immigration NZ, while addressing the gathering elaborated on the Government's migrant settlement and integration strategy said “We have turned our focus to employment, education, English language, inclusion, and health and well-being of migrants.
“Our settlement services are geared towards skilled migrants category visa holders, skilled temporary visa holders, as well as their family members. Our desired overarching outcome is to make sure migrants make New Zealand their home, participate fully and contribute to all aspects of New Zealand life.”.