The Indian Weekender, 28 May 2021

The Indian Weekender Friday, May 28, 2021
NEW ZEALAND 9
Labour, National tight-lipped on
former Kiwi-Chinese MPs’ departure
RADIO NEW ZEALAND
Labour and National are refusing to
comment on reports that say they
orchestrated the resignations of two
Chinese MPs last year due to security concerns.
Labour MP Raymond Huo and National
MP Jian Yang both announced their
retirement from politics within days of one
another in July 2020.
News website POLITIK yesterday reported,
from multiple sources, that the exits came
after intelligence agencies flagged concerns
about the MPs› relationship with the Chinese
Government. PR consultant Matthew Hooton -
who was working for the then-National leader
Todd Muller at the time - also published a
column, stating the party leaders struck a deal
in mid-2020 that the MPs would leave with “a
minimum of fuss”.
Hooton said the deal was based on intelligence
briefings “expressing concern” about the two
MPs’ links with the Chinese Government.
Another source also confirmed to RNZ that
an agreement was reached during a meeting
attended by the parties’ chiefs of staff.
Asked about the allegations, Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern declined to
comment to reporters.
“We do not confirm or deny any security
briefings that we do or don’t receive,”
Ardern said.
A spokesperson for the National Party also
said the party did not comment on security or
intelligence briefings.
Both Huo and Yang featured heavily in
research into China’s influence in New Zealand
by Canterbury University professor Anne-
Marie Brady.
Brady’s 2017 paper Magic Weapons named
Huo as someone who “works very closely with
PRC representatives in New Zealand” and had
links with China’s “united front organisations”.
In his valedictory speech, Huo described
some of the paper’s allegations as “bizarre” and
noted it referenced “almost all active Chinese
community leaders”.
“I’m a proud Kiwi-Chinese,” Huo told MPs.
“Sometimes ‘Made in China’ or ‘Originated
from China’ may not be that scary.”
In a statement announcing his retirement on
21 July, Huo said while he had intended to
stay on as a Labour candidate, “the subsequent
lockdown enabled me to spend more time with
my family and reflect on my political career”.
Yang’s exit statement on 10 July provided
even less clarity, saying only that he had
decided not to stand in the 2020 election after
“careful consideration and talking to my wife
and children”.
Yang has been the subject of media scrutiny
since reports by Newsroom and the Financial
Times in 2017 revealed he had attracted the
interest of the Security Intelligence Service
and had previously taught English at an elite
Chinese academy for military intelligence
officers.
In response to media questioning, Yang denied
he was, or ever had been, a spy, but admitted he
had taught English to students in China to assist
them with “collecting information”. In his final
speech in Parliament, Yang said he was loyal to
New Zealand and had been transparent with the
National Party about his background in China
“from the very beginning”.
He also apologised to former National leader
Simon Bridges for arranging a meeting with the
person in charge of China’s secret police, Guo
Shengkun, during a visit to the country in 2019.
“I did not really know Mr Guo’s portfolios.
So I did a quick search online and discovered
that he was in charge of justice and law and
order,” Yang said.
“Back in New Zealand, conspiracy theorists,
however, claimed that I had organised a
meeting between the National Party leader and
the head of the Chinese Communist Party’s
secret police.”
Covid-19 border closure: Millions spent on attracting migrants
RNZ
Immigration New Zealand’s visa account
was already $58m in the red before borders
closed last year but that more than doubled
in the following four months and continued to
grow (File image). Photo: 123rf.com
The government spent $900,000 to repatriate
migrants who could not afford plane tickets
to fly back to their home countries, Budget
documents show.
While borders remained closed, the
government also spent $11 million on attracting
migrants to come here.
It has also emerged the government
spent almost a quarter of a billion dollars in
plugging a black hole in immigration’s visa
account finances.
Last week’s budget recorded the $242m
spent in February to “reduce the accumulated
Covid-19 related deficit”, which still leaves a
$56m deficit.
The Budget figures show $11m
will be spent in the next financial
year on attracting migrants to
come here. Another $19m in
funds allocated for travel costs
in the migrant attraction budget
was last year re-purposed.
Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) visa
account was already $58m in the red before
borders closed last year but that more than
doubled in the following four months and
continued to grow.
Budget documents show the government
spent $900,000 in the current financial year
on “repayable financial assistance to foreign
nationals on temporary visas in need of support
to return home”. RNZ has asked how much of
the money has been repaid.
When the repatriation scheme emerged in
September, INZ stressed the money would
have to be repaid if immigrants want to return
to New Zealand in the future.
Those who would be eligible included
workers made redundant and visitors whose
funds had run out, and who could not get help
from other sources such as their embassy.
The Budget figures show $11m will be spent
in the next financial year on attracting migrants
to come here. Another $19m in funds allocated
for travel costs in the migrant attraction budget
was last year re-purposed.
The figures showed immigration spent $23m
more than budgeted last year, some on the
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closure of its overseas offices where staff had
not been able to work during the pandemic.
Offices in Mumbai, Manila and Pretoria closed
this year and 329 people lost their jobs.
It is not clear from Budget figures how
much money has been set aside to refund
migrants who have withdrawn their residence
applications.
Almost 3000 migrants had received refunds
in the 12 months to September, more than in the
three previous years combined, and totalling
nearly $1.4 million.
That was before the Ombudsman’s ruling last
month on INZ’s residence scheme, that paved
the way for refunds to skilled migrants who had
unwittingly joined a non-priority queue behind
fast-tracked applications.
INZ has been approached for comment on
the spending outlined in the Budget.
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