So Christopher Luxon thinks there is too much immigration. It was not what he was saying last year.
For instance in March 2022 he was reported as saying this in the Indian News:
National Party leader Christopher Luxon says that the Labour government is an anti-immigration government even before it came to power hence it’s so insensitive about the immigrants and split families who are stuck overseas due to border closure. His remark came during an exclusive conversation with The Indian News, on Sunday 27th March. He said he understands the pain and anguish of those migrants who are stuck overseas due to Labour government’s insensitivity towards migrants. He said government’s approach of slow processing of migrants’ application was very much in place even before Covid struck. The visa processing period was increased from 50 to 100 days much before Covid arrived in the country. This is all happening when there is an acute shortage of skilled and non-skilled labour in the country and every single sector of the economy is badly suffering due to this shortage and this is badly impacting New Zealand economy.
Luxon further said National Party is a pro-immigration party and was all praise for his colleague and National Party MP, Erica Stanford, who is also party’s Immigration spokesperson. Luxon claimed that she will make a much better Immigration Minister than Chris Faafoi as she cares for migrants and understands split family migrant’s situation. He said there is no pathway for residency available under the current immigration policies. He said there is wealth of talent available around the world and government should allow all sort of skilled people from world over to make our economy move and get rid of the shortage of skilled labour but nothing much has been done about it in past two years.
The rhetoric was repeated a couple of weeks later. From Ireland Hendry-Tennent in Newshub:
National leader Christopher Luxon told AM migrants will be key to filling critical staff shortages.
“We are a party that really believes in immigration. We think that migrants have a huge value and a lot of contribution to make to New Zealand,” he said on Wednesday.
“Across all sectors of New Zealand we are short of workers at the moment. We have sent a message to the world that we are fundamentally closed for business. If you’re a migrant coming to New Zealand, you might be a nurse or a doctor, there is currently no pathway to residency.
“If we want to attract the best we have to be the best in terms of an immigration system and an Immigration New Zealand response and we’re not at the moment.”
Luxon said the Government needs to ensure migrants feel New Zealand is a place they can come and “make something of themselves”.
When asked what National would do to attract migrants, Luxon said he would make it easier for people to get a working holiday visa.
And later that year in this press release from National Spokesperson Erica Stanford:
“Labour’s immigration policies have been a disaster. Just five per cent of the 20,000 workers promised in March have arrived, and only 442 Accredited Employer Work Visa applications have been submitted in five weeks despite Immigration New Zealand forecasting 3,500 per month.
“This Labour Government has turned New Zealand into an undesirable destination for migrants. Why would a skilled migrant choose New Zealand in 2022 compared to what Australia can offer?
“Wages are higher in Australia, and the cost of living is lower. It takes the average Kiwi an hour to earn what an Australian makes in 45 minutes. Crime is rising, with ram raids leading the news every morning. Patients are being turned away from critically understaffed emergency departments.
“Even if a migrant was to put this aside, the Government is still yet to announce a pathway to residence for the majority of skilled migrants we desperately need. Without certainty, migrants are much less likely to choose New Zealand.
“It’s not just migrants either. Kiwis are looking overseas and thinking the grass looks greener elsewhere under Labour. In the year to June, 11,500 more people left New Zealand than arrived.
But after all this incessant rhetoric on news that there was a population net gain of 118,000 in the past year Christopher Luxon now thinks that Immigration settings are too loose. It is a shame he cannot make his mind up.
From Craig McCullough at Radio New Zealand:
The Labour Party has conceded immigration settings may need to be tightened, but rejects National’s criticism of its record.
Speaking on Morning Report on Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described the system as “a complete hash” which had gone from being “way too restrictive to way too loose” under Labour.
The latest migration figures are expected to be published on Tuesday, with the last update showing a record net gain of 118,800 in the year to September.
Labour’s new immigration spokesperson Phil Twyford said Luxon’s comments were “a little surprising” given National’s calls over the past year.
“They were incessantly calling on Labour to loosen the rules, to bring more people in, to make it easier to bring in workers on temporary visas, so they’re singing from a very different song sheet now.”
Twyford defended the Labour government’s record, saying ministers had opened up settings “for the good of the economy” given the acutely tight labour market.
“You’ve got to remember we were coming off the most extreme skill shortages that we’ve seen in memory.
“It probably is about time for striking a better balance. The indications from the data are that those skill shortages have largely been resolved.
It is a feature of Luxon’s leadership. He is a master of the use of overtly negative rhetoric that once you look at over time is contradictory.
Eventually people will get sick of it. Hopefully this happens soon.
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