The Indian Weekender, 12 March 2021

10 NEW ZEALAND
Friday, March 12, 2021
The Indian Weekender
National says opening of one-way
travel bubble with Australia can
reunite migrant workers’ families
SANDEEP SINGH
National Party is saying that opening of
one-way travel bubble with Australia
can help two critically affected sectors
in New Zealand economy – Tourism & getting
highly skilled migrant workers into the country.
The party’s spokesperson for Covid-19
response Chris Bishop said, “it’s clear the trans-
Tasman bubble negotiations are going nowhere
under Labour, and it’s time for New Zealand to
take action to save our tourism sector.
“Australia has moved and now we
need to move as well. We decide when
we open our border – the decision is not
subcontracted to Australia.
“We could start accepting travellers from
Australia, provided they have a negative predeparture
test, from tomorrow – and that’s
exactly what we should do,” Bishop said.
This was after Covid-19 Response
Minister Chris Hipkins told the parliament on
Wednesday, March 10, that after 12 rounds
of talks over many months on a common
framework, both parties [NZ & Australia] have
effectively left the negotiating table.
The National is asking that the government
should consider opening one-way travel
bubble to get more tourists and travellers into
the country and help the tourism sector that is
desperately looking for more visitors into the
country or some substantial support from the
government.
The Party’s Immigration Spokesperson Erica
Stanford is saying that such unilateral opening
National Says- Left- Chris Bishop National Party’s spokesperson for Covid-19 response, (Right)- National
Party's Immigration Spokesperson Erica Stanford
of the travel bubble can potentially solve
another major issue of attracting and
retaining the highly skilled migrant
workforce in the country.
“New Zealand risks eroding our
critical migrant workforce – our
medical specialists, mathematics
teachers, engineers and tech
experts – because those workers
have no hope on the horizon of
reunification with their families.
“Despite countless heart-breaking stories of
workers who have been separated from their
partners and children, in many cases for more
than a year, Minister Faafoi has ignored this
problem for eight months.”
“A travel bubble with Australia would
"New
Zealand risks
eroding our critical
migrant workforce –
our medical specialists,
mathematics teachers, engineers
and tech experts – because those
workers have no hope on the
horizon of reunification
with their families"
see MIQ spots freed up so
these critical workers can
be reunited with their
families,” Stanford said.
Notably, tens of
thousands of temporary
migrant workers who
were ordinarily resident
in New Zealand remains
locked out of NZ borders
ever since bordered were closed
almost a year ago on March 19, 2020.
The temporary migrants, including those on
student visas, post-study work visa, essential
skill visa, open work visa, and partners
and families have not only invested tens of
thousands of dollars for a dream of Kiwi-life
in NZ and have spent several years living and
working in the country towards that now elusive
dream. The government had only allowed back
a minuscule category of essential skilled work
visa holders in a staggered manner that will
only allow potentially around 850 temporary
migrants back into the country, while others
still remain locked out with no respite in sight.
The government had always shrugged off
the urgent need of allowing those temporary
migrants back into the country, hiding behind
the pretext of “limited capacity of MIQ
facilities”, which continues to serve the citizens
and residents only largely.
The government had also explicitly denied
any intention of expanding MIQ facilities that
can potentially be targeted to serve temporary
migrants – both stuck offshore and onshore.
Temporary migrant workers
trapped inside NZ’s closed
borders
It is also important to note that the current
closed border regime had also entrapped more
than 200,000 temporary migrant workers
who are currently onshore and cannot travel
overseas without risking losing the right to reenter
the country.
Those temporary migrant workers are
currently living as an underclass in New
Zealand, seeing citizens and residents travelling
overseas at the time of family emergencies such
as grieving with death or terminal sickness in
overseas family, while they are continued to be
denied of any such compassion.
Record number of property
sales in month of February
SANDEEP SINGH
The number of residential properties
sold in February across New Zealand
increased by 14.6% when compared to
the same time last year (from 6,951 to 7,964)
– the highest for the month of February in 14
years, according to the latest data from the Real
Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).
For New Zealand excluding Auckland, the
number of properties sold increased by 6.1%
when compared to the same time last year
(from 4,890 to 5,189).
“Even with LVRs coming back
into effect in March, we would
expect to see sales volumes
continue at a solid pace over
the next couple of months; but
this will in part rely on a steady
stream of new listings coming
onto the market,
In Auckland, the number of properties sold
in February increased by 34.6% year-on-year
(from 2,061 to 2,775) – the highest for the
month of February in 14 years.
Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at REINZ
says: “The unrelenting pace of property sales
continued in February, with a 14.6% uplift on
sales volumes compared to the same time last
year; the highest number of properties sold for
the month of February in 14 years.
“It’s highly likely that some of this uplift
can be attributed to both investors and owneroccupiers
looking to purchase ahead of the LVR
restrictions coming back into effect in March
and the slight uplift in listings we’ve seen over
the last couple of months,” she continues.
“The Auckland market has seen one of the
largest percentage increases in sales volumes
across the country when compared to the
same time last year, with a 34.6% uplift in the
number of residential properties sold. This is
remarkable when you consider Auckland had
four days of Level 3 lockdown in February and
shows how adaptable both agents and members
of the public are at moving to technology
solutions to buy and sell houses when physical
viewings are extremely limited.
“Even with LVRs coming back into effect in
March, we would expect to see sales volumes
continue at a solid pace over the next couple
of months; but this will in part rely on a steady
stream of new listings coming onto the market,”
continues Norwell.
Median prices for residential property
across New Zealand increased by 22.8%
from $635,000 in February 2020 to $780,000
in February 2021 a new record high for the
country.
Median house prices for New Zealand
excluding Auckland increased by 19.1% from
$550,000 in February last year to $655,000.
Auckland’s median house price increased by
24.3% from $885,000 at the same time last year
to $1,100,000 – a new record for Auckland.
Additionally, Auckland City, Franklin District,
Manukau City, North Shore City, Papakura
District and Waitakere City all reached new
record median highs.
Nearly a third of NZ homes sold by auction
in February – highest level of auctions ever
February saw nearly a third of all properties
sold by auction (29.2%), with 2,322 properties
selling under the hammer – up from 16.4% at
the same time last year, when 1,139 properties
were sold via auction. This was the highest
percentage of auctions we’ve ever seen in New
Zealand.
Auckland was the third region nationwide
with 47.0% (1,303 properties) sold under the
hammer up from 31.3% in February 2020 (645
properties).
This was the highest percentage of auctions
in a February month since records on sales
methods began.