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Stuart Smith
National MP Kaikoura
Below is Stuart Smith’s response.
Overseas PhD students have so much to offer New Zealand, which is why we encourage them to study here.
In fact, we help fund their study because of the benefits they bring. These students create jobs; they innovate and make our economy more productive. Of all the people we should be offering residence to, these students should be near the top. So it is hard to understand why this Labour Government would deny them access to the fast-tracked visa.
New Zealand is a nation of migrants. From the first Maori through to today, migrants have made a contribution to our success as a country. With a falling birth rate and an aging population, we have been filling our skill gaps with migrants – from cable splicers to surgeons and engineers. Not enough people are born here to fill the roles needed.
But with the immigration tap turned off the last two years, New Zealand is now experiencing massive labour shortages – the worst in 40 years. It doesn’t matter which sector of the economy you go to today, they are all short of workers – be they healthcare, welders, seasonal farm workers, factory workers or retail staff.
One of the main causes is that the government has not prepared Immigration New Zealand to process visas for the border reopening. Immigration New Zealand’s website states that seven months is the current processing time for an onshore visitor visa, five months for a work visa and three months for a student visa.
The immigration minister’s lack of action has directly affected our struggling businesses being able to attract skilled workers, and is prolonging the pain of families who have been separated from their loved ones for the last two years.
If all that isn’t enough, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment predicted that 50,000 New Zealanders will leave for an OE or work after two years of border closures restricting international travel. That is a tidal wave of young workers leaving our shores.
Our immigration settings must be amended and quickly. Governance is about designing and setting policy, and ensuring there are adequate resources to deliver it. Unfortunately, since the Labour Government came to power in 2017, they have failed to deliver. With immigration policy they seem to be stuck in the hermit kingdom mode and unaware of the consequences of their dithering.
If they do not act there will be a decline in our working-age population, as not only migrants but skilled Kiwis too will head off to other countries where the cost of living is more affordable and their skills are welcomed.
But in the meantime, we are forced to wait for a government whose lack of action is only delaying our economic recovery.
