Labour’s “Diversity” Is Taxpayers’ Burden

Rt Hon Winston Peters has described the Government’s open door immigration policy and the wave of newcomers as an intolerable burden on ordinary New Zealand taxpayers.

This follows revelations that immigrants on emergency benefits are costing the taxpayer $1.47 million a week and that a total of 5458 immigrants who arrived in New Zealand in the past five years were on the emergency benefit as at May 28.

The figure does not include immigrants who may have qualified for the unemployment benefit and sickness benefit after being here for two years - they are ineligible for both benefits in the first two years of arrival.

“This is a shocking state of affairs. It shows that New Zealanders are paying countless millions to large numbers of immigrants who have come here simply to live at our expense.

“We have campaigned against mass immigration for many years to try to prevent this sorry state of affairs but the Government has simply accused us of being racist. “The $1.47 million a week is the tip of the iceberg. It does not include unemployment or sickness benefits, and nor does it take account of the huge cost of health, education and other social services.

“In some cases immigrants are running major crime rings such as black market shellfish rackets while being paid welfare cheques and they are laughing at us for being such suckers.

“The day of reckoning is coming for this government and the thousands of immigrants who should never have been allowed to come here,” said Mr Peters.

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