Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
Member of Parliament for Northland
21 JULY 2017
National Can’t Hide Impact of Mass Immigration
National has been saying for years that New Zealanders returning from overseas are responsible for the surge in
immigration – that is hogwash, says New Zealand First Leader and Member of Parliament for Northland Rt Hon Winston
Peters.
“The latest immigration figures from Statistics New Zealand show a new record high of net 72,300, predominantly made up
of arrivals by non-NZ citizens.
“National is relying on massive population growth from immigration to superficially grow the economy through
consumption.
“Their obsession with mass immigration continues to disadvantage hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who are trying
to buy houses, find jobs, get hospital treatment and even access education.
“New Zealand First will drastically reduce net immigration to a sensible level. That means going from National’s
ridiculous levels to well below what Labour wants (40,000 to 50,000 a year) to around 10,000.
“This is a common sense number that would still allow New Zealand’s genuine skills shortages to be met.
“Many immigrants arriving are unskilled, though disguised under various immigration categories as having some fort of
‘profession’.
“We should be taking in people we need and will benefit our economy and not those who need us,” says Mr Peters.
ENDS