Media Release - 27 May 2005

Nz First's Tough New Immigration Policy

A long term population strategy, a major fraud investigation unit and compulsory DNA testing are part of New Zealand First's new five-point immigration plan.

Leader, Rt Hon Winston Peters unveiled the policy at a meeting of Grey Power in Orewa this afternoon. He said the importance of a sound immigration policy had taken on a renewed urgency in the post September 11 environment.

"It is now a matter of national security and it poses a very real threat to the value of our citizenship.

"For over a year the Immigration Minister had been promising to review the Immigration Act, but did nothing until this week when he made a belated announcement of a review that might lead to a law change in two years."

Mr Peters said another disturbing issue was the release of Statistics New Zealand population projections going forward to the year 2021.

"What these projections showed was the Asian population in New Zealand will increase 145 percent from an estimated 270,000 in 2001 to 670,000 in 2021.

"Such phenomenal growth in the Asian population has already seen them pass the Maori population as the second largest ethnic population in New Zealand. ( A Maori can be one part in 512).

"The shape of our population is dramatically changing but our people are not being consulted.

"There is a net outflow of just over 18,000 New Zealanders to Australia and more elsewhere each year while in the same period we bring in a net increase of 19,000 new Asian immigrants.

"In other words we are being colonised without New Zealanders having some say in the numbers of people coming in and where they are coming from. This is a deliberate policy of ethnic engineering and re-population."

Mr Peters detailed New Zealand First's five point plan to address the immigration crisis.

1. Comprehensive Population Policy

- Stop the knee jerk annual immigration planning and start working on ten year and 25 year plans.

- Establish long-term labour market demands and import skills needed if sufficient New Zealanders cannot be trained.

- Target people with skills needed and ensure that migrants have jobs to go to.

- Consult New Zealanders about the make up of those coming here.

- Introduce a targeted programme aimed at retaining skilled New Zealanders and encouraging others offshore to return.

2. Reform Immigration Service:

Increase staffing and end the practice of foreign nationals processing visa applications or carrying out any duties that involve making decisions on who comes to New Zealand. Only New Zealand citizens will be involved in this sort of work.

New Zealand First will also :

- Create a entirely new organisation to protect the integrity of New Zealand citizenship known as the Immigration Inspectorate.

- It will be a specialised forensic unit to act as an immigration "Flying Squad".

- The team will scan visa applications for the past six years, searching for inconsistencies, anomalies and potential risks.

- It will make random double checks of past and present immigration decisions to confirm that every care and precaution has been taken.

- The team will also investigate immigration crime and fraud and weed out corrupt or incompetent staff.

- Staff for the unit will be recruited from outside the Immigration Service.

- All staff will hold New Zealand citizenship.

3. Change Immigration Laws:

- Create an "undesirables" category, to ensure those from dangerous and unethical regimes are red-flagged before they get here.

- Remove the capacity for New Zealand to even consider for refugee status, those with terrorism related convictions in other jurisdictions.

- Anybody held as a suspected terrorist under the Immigration Act cannot receive bail - unless it is to be taken to the nearest airport.

- Change the nature of the appeals process, to ensure it cannot ever again become an endless process of taxpayer funded litigation.

- Make the Refugee Status Appeals Authority more directly responsible to Parliament.

- The RSAA will have the capacity to review cases to ensure due process was followed, but its ability for discretionary decisions and interpretation will be curbed.

- Make DNA testing compulsory when any doubt exists over immigrant/refugee family relationships.

- Introduce fingerprinting and eye scanning. (Biometric technology available abroad)

4. Review Humanitarian Role:

- New Zealand First will meet UN refugee obligation but believes humanitarian benevolence has been abused by family reunification policy.

- Refugee family reunification will be limited to spouses and immediate dependent siblings.

- For all others, the requirements for family reunification will be aligned more closely to the general category, with higher standards of English, a job or proof of income and a commitment to New Zealand culture.

- Become more creative in humanitarian efforts by increasing overseas aid budget as a more efficient means of meeting humanitarian obligations. Effectively targeted aid places less strain on our domestic infrastructure.

5. Industry Clean-up

- New Zealand First will clean up the immigration consultants industry and related fields.

- Police and the Immigration Inspectorate will mount a major campaign to fight organised crime dealing in false documentation, fake drivers licences and university degrees, insurance fraud, illegal gambling, prostitution and all manner of crime such as murder, kidnapping and protection rackets.

- Police will receive extra resources related specifically to immigrant communities.

- Immigration consultants will be regulated and licensed.

- The Immigration Service will have the authority to remove those involved in such activities.

ENDS

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