National Building Economy on Fraud And Corruption
More evidence has come forward exposing Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce’s much vaunted international student
industry to be rotten but he refuses to clean it up, says New Zealand First Leader and Northland Member of Parliament, Rt Hon Winston Peters.
“Earlier in the week we heard of a ‘Mr Big’ and an old boys’ club controlling the Indian student market.
”Now Immigration NZ documents show Indian business owners are exploiting Indian students as cheap labour and charging
them $20,000 just to get a job.
“A year ago Mr Joyce said: ‘We just have the occasional agent and the occasional provider that doesn't do things
properly and we have to sort that out.’
“He is trivialising a national disgrace - there is fraud, corruption, and crooked agents, providers and employers
throughout the industry – and he has done nothing about it.
“For a country which prides itself on abiding by fair standards and human rights, this is unacceptable.
“If Mr Joyce and National had any ethical decency, they would call for an inquiry and clean this disgrace up
immediately.
“They don’t because, as New Zealand First has repeatedly said, it’s all about the money – National want to pump up the
industry to bring in billions a year, regardless of how corrupt and rotten it is.
“It is not the New Zealand way to build an economy on fraud and corruption – but sadly, under National, this is becoming
the norm,” says Mr Peters.
ENDS