June 15 2017 Indian Newslink Digital Edition

04
Homelink
JUNE 15, 2017
Reckless migration impoverishes New Zealanders
Michael Wood
Assalam Alaikum to all Muslim
friends as we approach
the important celebration of
Eid Al Fitr on or about June
27, 2017.
I am extremely proud to represent
the most multicultural electorate in
New Zealand.
Around half of the people who live
in Mt Roskill were born overseas, and
we are a richer community for the fact
that people from all parts of the world
and many cultures have made their
home here.
Concerning moves
Recently however, I have observed a
concerning phenomenon. I first became
aware of it when a close supporter in
Mt Roskill told me that she was leaving
the area. She had migrated from India
and settled in Roskill twenty-five years
ago, has a good middle-class job, and
has put down roots in our community.
But, as she explained, the cost of
housing in Mt Roskill is now simply
too high for her to stay.
Since then, I have heard many other
such stories from migrant communities
in Mt Roskill. At the same time, young
people are locked out of home ownership
here with average house prices
around $1 million, and a desperate
queue of low income families come
to my office with literally nowhere to
go. This is all happening in Mt Roskill,
a place that was once a community
where low and middle-income families
came to get a start in life with a decent
house.
Massive mismatch
We need urgent action on housing,
tackling the problem from all angles.
There is a massive mismatch
between supply and demand. Under
National, we are only building around
7000 houses in Auckland per year
when we need 13,000. Few of those
built are affordable, and speculators are
running rampant.
Labour’s KiwiBuild Programme will
start to make housing more affordable
by building 10,000 affordable homes
per year.
We will keep the cost down by
building at scale and selling at cost to
first home buyers.
We will also crack down on speculators
by banning off-shore speculation
and making the tax rules fairer.
Immigration Control
We also believe that while we face a
housing crisis, it does not benefit New
Zealand to be running immigration at
record levels. The long run average has
been around 30,000 net arrivals per
year. Over the past few years however,
this has jumped to over 70,000 net
arrivals. This added population pressure
makes it harder for us to get on top of
major infrastructure challenges such as
housing and transport.
As such, Labour believes that we
need to take a breather on immigration
and ease the total numbers downwards.
Our plan is moderate and balanced.
We still need and want immigration to
New Zealand, and the total effect of our
plans will be to bring net arrivals down
to around 40,000-50,000 per year. Still
a little above the long-term average,
but creating fewer pressures than the
current record levels.
Ending abuses
We’ll make immigration work for
New Zealand by ending abuses in the
system and focussing on the skills that
our country needs.
Regional Skills Lists will be set up
in close consultation with employers so
that we get exactly the people we need
to support our economy.
We will also have a special
‘KiwiBuild Visa’ to bring in people to
build houses.
We will encourage employers to do a
better job of training people up locally.
For example, under the ‘KiwiBuild
Visa,’ employers must train one
apprentice for every visa issued.
Student Visa changes
Change is needed with student
visas. Export education is an important
industry, but too often unscrupulous
agents are exploiting students and
low-quality courses simply funnel
vulnerable students into the exploitative
end of the labour market.
Labour will support high quality
export education by re-focusing the
system on Level 7 and above qualifications.
Student visas for courses below
Level 7 will only be issued where the
course is independently accredited as
high quality, and serves a genuine need.
Overall, our changes will make
immigration work for New Zealand.
We will still have a flow of people
coming to New Zealand bringing their
skills, investment, and culture.
By easing the numbers down, we
will ensure that we can build the
infrastructure that Kiwis new and old
need to live good lives.
Michael Wood is elected Member of
Parliament from Mt Roskill and Labour
Party’s Spokesman for Ethnic
Communities, Consumer Affairs and
Revenue.
From US to France and UK, election results ripple
Priyanca Radhakrishnan
The last eight months has
been fascinating – and rather
dramatic - for global politics.
It began with something
hardly anyone foresaw - the election of
Donald Trump as US President.
We then had another shock in the
form of Brexit.
The French election presented a shift
with the election of Emmanuel Macron
instead of far-right populist candidate
Marine Le Pen.
United Kingdom elections held last
week will go down in British political
history for a variety of reasons.
Wrong Predictions
Conservative Prime Minister Theresa
May called snap election in April
this year, when her Party was polling
exceptionally well. In contrast, the UK
Labour Party was trailing by about
25 points. Polls predicted a crushing
defeat ahead for the Labour Party and a
landslide victory for the Conservatives.
That did not happen. Instead, the
Conservatives failed to gain over-all
majority, leading to a hung Parliament.
The UK Labour Party, by contrast,
increased their vote by about 15% in
the eight-week period and won about
30 seats.
The Conservatives managed
to scrape together a coalition
post-Election, but the Labour Party
emerged vindicated, having achieved
a turn-around that most thought was
impossible.
The New Zealand Connection
Over the past few days, many have
asked me what that means for the New
Zealand Labour Party as we go into
an election of our own in slightly over
three months.
The main message of the UK Labour
Party in this election was that Labour
stands for the many, not the few.
That was also the title of their policy
manifesto.
UK Labour’s policies focused on
increased access to high quality education,
universal healthcare coverage,
an increased focus on community
policing, building more houses and a
redistribution of wealth from the richest
five per cent of the population to those
who are struggling in a bid to reduce
wealth inequality.
Does that sound familiar? That is
because Labour parties around the
world share the same philosophy.
We believe in growing the country’s
economy – not as an end in itself, but
as a means to improve the lives of the
many.
Labour’s package
The NZ Labour Party has a similar
message.
That is why we have a comprehensive
policy package to fix the housing
crisis.
We believe that everyone has the
right to an affordable, warm and dry
home.
We also have a strong focus on
ensuring that our education system is
world class and accessible to all.
We have already announced that
we will provide three years of free
post-secondary school education to
increase access to quality education.
It is the philosophy of standing for
the many not the few that drives us
to advocate for a well-funded health
system that everyone can access.
It is also that philosophy that motivated
Labour to vote against the Government’s
tax package offered in Budget 2017,
which supports the wealthiest while a
single person on a cleaner’s wage stands
to benefit only one dollar more a week.
It is unfair.
Campaign strength fortifies
The other significant learning
from the UK election is the power
of a strong, grassroots campaign. In
about two months, the UK Labour
Party slashed the Conservative Party’s
majority.
While it is important to have good
policy solutions that will improve
people’s lives, it’s also important to be
able to communicate it well.
That is where a strong, grassroots
campaign that engages voters on their
doorsteps comes into the picture. Some
analyses indicate that the campaign’s
media strategy included a heavy
reliance on social media, particularly
given the biased mainstream media.
Finally, we see clearly that the
combination of strong solutions and a
people-powered grassroots campaign
can successfully turn out the vote.
The message here is that nothing can
be taken for granted in politics.
If you are keen to hear more about
what Labour has to offer this year, or
wish to express your opinion, please
contact me at priyanca@labour.org.nz
Finally, to our Muslim readers, I
wish you all a blessed Ramadan and at
the end of the month, a very happy Eid
Al Fitr.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan was born
in India, educated in Singapore and
New Zealand. She has been with the
Labour Party for about 11 years in
various capacities. She is the Party’s
candidate in the Maungakiekie
constituency in the general election
scheduled to be held on Saturday,
September 23, 2017.
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