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02<br />
OCTOBER <strong>15</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
Homelink<br />
Parent Visa should be open to all Permanent Residents<br />
Peter Dunne<br />
The Government’s<br />
announcement last<br />
week that it was<br />
removing the requirement<br />
that Quota Refugees<br />
from Africa and the Middle<br />
East regions must have<br />
family already living in New<br />
Zealand before they can be<br />
considered for resettlement<br />
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here was significant.<br />
This move abolishes a<br />
discrimination that has been<br />
in place under current immigration<br />
policy and while it is<br />
to be applauded, it is a timely<br />
reminder nonetheless that<br />
there are still many aspects<br />
of our Immigration Policy<br />
that are unfair or at best<br />
unevenly applied.<br />
During my more than thirty<br />
years in Parliament, immigration<br />
cases consistently<br />
accounted for between twothirds<br />
and three-quarters of<br />
my electorate workload.<br />
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I came to the considered<br />
view during that time, under<br />
successive Labour- and<br />
National-led governments,<br />
that our Immigration Policy<br />
was essentially racist.<br />
While New Zealand’s<br />
approach was never as explicit<br />
or as total as Australia’s<br />
notorious “White Australia”<br />
policy that lasted until the<br />
advent of the Whitlam Government<br />
in 1972, the effect<br />
until comparatively recently<br />
was broadly the same.<br />
Racist approach<br />
In my experience, it was<br />
Rohit Takyar<br />
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Alpana Gupta<br />
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consistently more difficult<br />
to win cases (on behalf of<br />
constituents) for people<br />
coming from the Pacific, Asia,<br />
the Indian subcontinent and<br />
the Middle East and Africa,<br />
than it was for those from<br />
Britain, Europe, Canada and<br />
the United States.<br />
In part, it was the policy,<br />
and in part it was the attitude<br />
of officials who were always<br />
more inherently suspicious<br />
of the cases of people who<br />
were not from the “white”<br />
countries. Appreciation of<br />
differing cultural norms was<br />
virtually zero, with applicants<br />
simply expected to fit the New<br />
Zealand template immediately,<br />
and to be treated with<br />
wariness and disdain if they<br />
did not.<br />
Refugees and parents of<br />
New Zealand residents from<br />
outside the “white” countries<br />
were usually the hardest<br />
cases to advance. This is<br />
despite most of the evidence<br />
which shows that migrants<br />
to New Zealand from refugee<br />
backgrounds often make the<br />
strongest of contributions to<br />
our society, enriching it in so<br />
many ways.<br />
Yet non-quota refugees’ stories<br />
were usually disbelieved.<br />
I was even asked on one<br />
occasion to get confirming<br />
evidence from authorities in<br />
Saddam Hussein’s Iraq that<br />
they were in fact subjecting<br />
a couple seeking to join children<br />
here to the persecution<br />
they were claiming!<br />
At the same time, parents<br />
wanting to join children in<br />
New Zealand were always<br />
assumed to be harbouring<br />
illnesses that would prove<br />
costly to our health system,<br />
or, if they wished to make a<br />
short-term visit, that when<br />
the time came, they would<br />
just never go home.<br />
Small but significant step<br />
Last week’s move was a<br />
small but significant step<br />
forward, but there is still<br />
a mighty long way to go<br />
to make the New Zealand<br />
immigration system truly fair<br />
and justly applied.<br />
One area where the<br />
Government could move<br />
relatively easily relates to<br />
parents.<br />
It has just restored the<br />
Parents’ Visa, but limited it to<br />
1000 applicants a year, who<br />
are financially independent.<br />
However, the change will<br />
have limited effect and is cold<br />
comfort to many migrants<br />
seeking family reunification,<br />
but who will not qualify<br />
under this policy.<br />
Our policy needs to go<br />
further and allow all parents<br />
of New Zealand permanent<br />
residents and citizens an<br />
automatic right to short-term<br />
entry or residence, subject<br />
to the standard health and<br />
character requirements. This<br />
would deal in one fell swoop<br />
to the many cases of parents<br />
wanting to make short-term<br />
visits to see children or<br />
grandchildren, or attend<br />
family events like weddings,<br />
reunions, or funerals which<br />
arouse too many suspicions<br />
in the minds of immigration<br />
officials at present, and<br />
currently lead to so many<br />
disappointments when their<br />
applications are declined, or<br />
the events have passed by.<br />
Balancing factors<br />
It would also make it easier<br />
for children wanting to bring<br />
elderly parents to New Zealand<br />
to look after them, thus<br />
easing the current problem<br />
of remittances to home<br />
countries, in Asia and the<br />
Pacific especially, as well as<br />
providing basic peace of mind<br />
to so many. It will not open<br />
the immigration floodgates,<br />
nor will it create significant<br />
burdens for the New Zealand<br />
taxpayer, because of the current<br />
restrictions on things like<br />
eligibility for superannuation.<br />
Rather, it is simply the right<br />
thing to do.<br />
Britain’s noble expression<br />
of regret to the descendants<br />
of Cook’s victims, and the<br />
Government’s encouraging<br />
immigration changes are<br />
worthwhile first steps, both<br />
holding the promise of more<br />
to come.<br />
Just as important, and the<br />
real test of the policy commitment<br />
in both cases, however,<br />
will be what comes next.<br />
For full text of the above<br />
article, please visit www.<br />
indiannewslink.co.nz.<br />
Published under a Special<br />
Agreement with Newsroom.<br />
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi<br />
National List MPbased<br />
in<br />
Manukau East<br />
Contact<br />
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E<br />
1/131 Kolmar Road, Papatoetoe, Auckland<br />
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09 278 2143<br />
bakshi.mp@parliament.govt.nz<br />
facebook.com/bakshiks<br />
@bakshiks<br />
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