Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
26 APRIL 2017

NZ Herald ‘Alternative Facts’ Misleading Over Immigration

New Zealand Herald propaganda written by two Asian immigrant reporters stating the top five source nations for work visas are not Asian is completely wrong and based on flawed analysis, says New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“The reporters Lincoln Tan and Harkanwal Singh base their defective analysis on data from arrival/departure cards (which doesn’t disclose where the applicant originally came from), not on the number of work visas issued, outstanding or yet to be acted upon by their departure.

“They take no account that many people change their visas while in New Zealand and that a lot of those who come here on student visas - nearly all on permanent long term visas - have work rights.

“When these migrants complete their studies they can get a ‘study to work’ visa.

“The NZ Herald does not make it known that Statistics New Zealand publish data by previous country of residence, not country of citizenship, so entering from Australia does not make them Australian which is the flimsy conclusion the two Herald reporters relied upon.

“MBIE has the information so why aren’t they independently telling the public the truth.

“Assuming that this is permanent long term data from arrival cards to work out which country the temporary or permanent migrants come from, is plain ignorant which should not happen with professional journalism.

“The main source countries for work visas are Asian countries – not the UK, Germany, Australia, South Africa and the US as the NZ Herald so erroneously and irresponsibly claims.

“Quite clearly they don’t mind creating confusion and spreading misinformation”, says Mr Peters.

“The next time the Herald has a mind to publish such rubbish, New Zealand First would be pleased if they called us first which would be an attempt to salvage any professional reputation on the issue of immigration the Herald may have.

“This is election year and independence and fact is something the public has a right to expect from the media,” says Mr Peters.

Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment statistics for the top source countries are:

Family work visas granted 2015/16: India (7720), China (4012), Philippines (3216), UK (2566).

Outstanding temporary work visas as at June 30, 2016: India (25,479), UK (15,040), China (12,192), Philippines (11,980).

Essential skills visas granted 2015/16: Philippines (5408), India (4812), UK (3686).

Residence approvals 2015/16: China (9360), India (8498), UK (4934), Philippines (4614).

Student visas granted 2015/16: China (25,931), India (19,920), South Korea (4888), Philippines (3996), Japan (3604).

ENDS

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