Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, July 14th, 2008 - 13 comments
Nick Butcher has produced this excellent video opposing the Immigration Bill (which we blogged about last week and is covered in more detail here). There’s also a website and an ipetition. This really is an appalling Bill and I take my hat off to Nick and co for having the initiative to organise public opposition …
Written By: - Date published: 2:46 pm, July 9th, 2008 - 74 comments
The September 11 attacks were used as cover to pass draconian laws around the world, particularly concerning immigration. The Government is, once again, following suit with the new Immigration Bill. It’s a shockingly bad piece of legislation that gives broad powers to immigration and other government officials (read SIS), removes judicial oversight, and allows personal …
Written By: - Date published: 2:21 pm, June 26th, 2008 - 7 comments
From Brian Fallow in The Herald on migration and immigration: …Statistics New Zealand has been comparing last year with previous peak gross outflows, allowing for changes in population size and age-structure. In unadjusted terms, permanent and long-term departures for Australia last year were just 7 per cent lower than the 1979 peak, but 20 per …
Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, June 23rd, 2008 - 71 comments
The cornerstone of National’s ‘New Zealand sucks’ campaign is that Australia is much better (and we have to lower taxes and slash work rights to catch up). Now, the Sunday-Star Times produced a well-researched article on standards of living here and in Australia. A year late, but good to see, nonetheless. The conclusions: Your tax …
Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, June 20th, 2008 - 48 comments
Every month, Stats releases migration figures. Each month, they show little change in the pattern from last month. And each month, National comes out all in a fury over the figures as if they herald Armageddon while offering no substance, just a lot of bluster. Nothing has changed from April. In the month of April, …
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, May 28th, 2008 - 29 comments
Greg Clydesdale’s report that labelled Pacific Islanders a ‘drain on the economy’ has been rubbished as a lazy, intellectually dishonest piece of work by fellow academics. The report concludes that Pacific Islanders make no net contribution to the economy but the substance of the report does not justify that conclusion in the slightest. Moreover, it …
Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, April 26th, 2008 - 36 comments
This morning’s Dom Post buys into National’s “Aussie exodus” spin with a lead story claiming “A staggering one in 10 voters are considering a move to Australia” in the next twelve months. The facts, of course, are somewhat different. As we’ve shown before, as few as 0.67% of New Zealanders actually emigrate to any country …
Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, April 22nd, 2008 - 18 comments
Simon Power has hit on the fact that Stats New Zealand produces migration figures every month, and that means every month he gets to report the number of New Zealanders heading for Australia as if a) the number is unprecedented, which it is not b) it’s all the Government’s fault, which it’s not. Not that …
Written By: - Date published: 4:35 pm, April 21st, 2008 - 26 comments
Last year, 99.33% of New Zealand citizens liked their country so much they stayed. Some left for short periods, and some left forever but they were more than replaced by new New Zealanders who also think this is a great place to live. There really is nothing extraordinary in the new emigration figures. The numbers ebb and …
Written By: - Date published: 1:26 pm, March 25th, 2008 - 32 comments
David Farrar appears to be throwing his weight in behind National Party’s “New Zealand Sucks” campaign with another misleading post on migration to Australia. Titled “The exodus grows”, DPF’s take on the most recent stats is that the rate at which people are “fleeing New Zealand” is accelerating. It’s perhaps disguised as one of David’s …
Written By: - Date published: 12:09 pm, February 29th, 2008 - 26 comments
National likes to talk down New Zealand, to portray this great country as underperforming, to exaggerate our problems, and to cast our unique traits and values as barriers to ‘success’ (success is becoming a more homogenised off-shoot of American capitalism). A great way to further the message is wailing about people leaving for Australia – …
Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, February 18th, 2008 - 29 comments
Refreshing to see the fourth estate challenging the political spin from time to time. The Independent Financial Review has this on the myth of the Aussie brain drain: Far from losing our “best and brightest” as business lobby groups insist about half of Kiwi migrants are blue collar or “no collar” workers, according to departure …
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