Labour: Migrants won't take jobs
DANYA LEVY
Relevant offers
Election 2011
Labour is vowing to ensure migrants to New Zealand fill areas of skills shortages but says that wouldn't come at a cost to local jobs.
Maximising the skills level of new migrants was vital for social and economic growth and their contribution to New Zealand was often overlooked, said spokeswoman Ruth Dyson who has just released Labour's immigration policy.
Labour would regularly update the skills shortage list with new labour market information.
''People know that if they are qualified in a certain area and that area is on our skills shortage list, they will get an application process straight away.''
Labour would also reverse recent changes by the National-led Government to visa requirements for temporary entertainment industry workers.
The changes scrapped industry-led labour market testing which still applied to other workers, Dyson said.
It would also review the entrepreneur category of the immigration programme to increase opportunities for young entrepreneurs, enhance the seasonal employment scheme so workers were properly paid and accommodated while in New Zealand, and develop a national plan for refugee resettlement.
A Labour government would investigate why increasing numbers of Pacific people were in New Zealand illegally and encourage them to legalise their immigration status.
A specialist immigration ombudsman would also be established to ensure migrants had adequate protections.
Dyson said over the past three years New Zealand had gone from being a country with record low unemployment rates to one with a comparatively high rate.
''That means our policies now must be flexible enough to deal with rapidly changing labour markets and future local requirements.''
- © Fairfax NZ News
Sponsored links
Newest First
Oldest First
we don't need any more doctors or pilots driving taxis. I have talked to a number of well educated drivers thinking NZ was full of opportunities-it wasn't then and it isn't now.
Crunch time for public service changes
Treaty obligations to stay in asset sales
McCully email thief could be Kiwi
PSA disappointed Key won't discuss cuts
Law Commission proposes courts shake-up
PM invited to press 'play' on teapot tape
Defence boss: Hard decisions take toll
ACC work account competition delayed
Ministry 'failed its own national standards'
McCully emails criticised foreign affairs ministry
Labour fears for Kiwis in ministry shake-up
Warning for gales in Wellington
Why I feel for the kids of ego-trippers
Rubbish bins are better than bags
Carterton balloon was not airworthy
Near-miss sees passenger ferry sailings cancelled
Bus CEO: New routes slower, dearer
Protester costs council $350,000
Welch wins prestigious portrait award
Why I feel for the kids of ego-trippers
Warning for gales in Wellington
Wellington ZM crew relive glory days
Wellington remembers quake victims
Bus CEO: New routes slower, dearer
Drowning victim British fishing adventurer
Why I feel for the kids of ego-trippers
Sea Shepherd ship to set sail from Wellington
Rubbish bins are better than bags
Warning for gales in Wellington
Transmission Gully could make traffic worse
Morgue water arts show axed after iwi opposition
Do you use self-service at the supermarket checkout?
Properly managed migration only brings in skills we can't find in NZ.
It boosts our ageing population, adds $1.9 billion in direct income (plus $5.1b in indirect income) every year, helps NZ business grow and creates tens of thousands of jobs for kiwis. Unfortunately since 2009 a reasonably effective immigration system has been quietly turned into a broken and twisted wreck. Massive new bureaucracy, delays, errors plus the loss of any transparency has seen New Zealand lose some of the best and brightest applicants to Australia and Canada.
The core of effective skilled migration is knowing where the skill shortages are. The govt is using the WINZ database rather than collecting this information and it is a false economy leaving many businesses unable to hire perfect applicants they need with the knock on effect of losing NZ employees their jobs.
The decision to slash numbers of the most highly skilled workers allowed into the country from Jan 2010 by 30% has so far lost New Zealand over $750 million - cash which would be fairly handy right now - a figure expected to rise to $1.8 billion by next year.
Minister Coleman's choice has created huge skill shortages in certain areas such as medical, engineering and I.T. which cannot be filled by short-term training and changes were made in July to block skilled trades workers and allow in more PhDs.
NZ had a good system before the current Minister broke it. Can we have it back please?
Simply repairing this damage would help NZ businesses get the staff they need, create thousands of jobs for kiwis and bring hundreds of millions of income back into the country.
Continuing as we are sends the benefit NZ was getting to Australia.
Mike site architect, mov