The Indian Weekender

The Indian Weekender Friday, October 02, 2020
NEW ZEALAND 3
ELECTION 2020: Where is
the plan for immigration?
SANDEEP SINGH
In a rare display of convergence of political
interests, both Labour and the opposition
National Party, have chosen to remain
blissfully silent on the “plan on immigration,”
for a country that seeks a lot of pride for being a
“country that has been built upon immigration.”
The election campaigning has clearly entered
in an intense phase where both major parties
are attacking and castigating each other’s claim
on credibility for managing the complex post-
Covid future of our country, however, there
is a marked absence of any such “contest” on
immigration issues.
Apparently, any such “plan on immigration”
is equally abominable for both major parties –
Labour and National, and the country does not
deserve to know in advance while we deal with
“once in a hundred-year pandemic” or “once in
165 years recession.”
This is indeed political-opportunism at
its best by both the Labour and the National,
despite their respective famed-claims of “caring
for the people,” and caring for the “economy.”
Policy on border management is
not a policy on immigration
Importantly, both major parties are framing
their respective world views on immigration
by conveniently emphasising only on “border
control,” which at best is a manifestation of
hope, and wishful thinking, than a clear plan.
In that regard, both the major parties are
falling prey to a long prevalent simplistic
assumption that an increase in local
unemployment can easily translate into shifting
of the workforce in the regions and sectors of
the economy experiencing a shortage of labour
supply.
It is to say that with forecasts that
unemployment can rise up to 12 per cent by
February 2021 when more number of jobs that
are currently being supported by government’s
massive $1.7 billion wage subsidy scheme, will
be lost, there is an expectation those workers
can easily be retrained and motivated to fill in
the jobs that were previously filled by migrant
workers.
Both major parties have come up with
their respective policies on retraining of
the workforce, which, despite being wellintentioned,
cannot fully replace with a policy
on immigration.
To envisage that NZ will be able to pull out of
the first full-blown recession in a decade, which
many fear could also be worst in public memory
in a century, just on the basis of extremely highend,
high paying “critically skilled workforce”
that these major policies are seeming to invite
in near term, could again be wishful thinking.
This debate between the importance of
“highly skilled or critically skilled workforce”
for NZ’s economy has long reverberated within
political contestation of ideas on immigration,
but the researches have long proved beyond any
doubt that the so-called mid-skilled and lowskilled
migrant workers are also the backbones
of any flourishing economy.
Surprisingly, National also seem to be toeing
the line so assiduously advanced by the Labour
Party in recent times and giving up on the need
for mid and low-skilled migrant workers for the
economy.
And this is when the country has collectively
experienced in Alert Level 4 lockdowns in
recent past when all but so-called low-skilled
migrant workers bore the maximum brunt of
keeping the economic wheels moving and
maintain the supply and delivery of essential
services.
The political necessity of winning elections
has indeed blurred the collective wisdom and
the vision for the future.
Has NZ given up on “temporary
migrants stuck overseas”?
To make things further worse and distasteful,
political parties of all stripes seem to have
conveniently given up on the temporary
migrants stuck overseas, who are real people,
and till recently were living in New Zealand
before Covid-inflicted border closure turned
their worlds upside down.
It has been almost seven months that tens
of thousands of temporary migrants who were
otherwise living in NZ and were innocuously
travelling overseas when the borders were
closed behind them without a clear warning that
they could possibly be permanently locked out
of the country.
• Continued on Page 5
ONLY ACT HAS A PLAN
TO REUNITE
OUR COUNTRY
DAVID SEYMOUR - ACT LEADER
BROOKE VAN VELDEN - DEPUTY LEADER
New Zealand needs a government that lives
within the same constraints as the rest of us.
Only a vote for ACT ensures that the other political parties are held
to account. ACT is the party of small businesses and self-starters.
We are committed to helping you thrive and grow, ensuring a strong
economy and that our children aren’t saddled with unnecessary debt.
Nicole McKee
Rongotai Candidate
#3 on Party List
Chris Baillie
Nelson Candidate
#4 on Party List
Simon Court
Te Atatū Candidate
#5 on Party List
The ACT Party will fight for freedom of speech, freedom of choice
and less Government interference in your life. With more MP’s we
will ensure that we protect your freedoms.
PARTY VOTE ACT THIS OCTOBER
CHANGE YOUR FUTURE
ACT0010/IW/3
James McDowall
Waikato Candidate
#6 on Party List
Karen Chhour
Upper Harbour Candidate
#7 on Party List
Mark Cameron
Northland Candidate
#8 on Party List
www.act.org.nz/future
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