Hard News: The Fine Line
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
My inner Machiavellian tells me that the best way to trigger one is to actively encourage sub-prime lenders to set up shop in NZ.
Playing into JK's hands.
What next? A run on the dollar? -
Kumara Republic, in reply to
Playing into JK's hands.
What next? A run on the dollar?Then again, a property crash would be one of the few things that the 1%-ers wouldn't be able to run away from, so chances are it'd be too big to fail for Key & Co.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
But I really struggle to see how capping migrant numbers would work, or adjusting the points system to maintain an effective cap. For starters, it could only apply to categories such as student, work, or business migrants. And even then, how could you reasonably tell applicants “sorry, you meet all the criteria, but we filled the quota”? To try and limit categories like refugee/asylum/protection or family reunion or spousal visas strikes me as being utterly inhumane.
We already do this. The Capped Family Stream is set at 14,850 to 16,500 places between July 2011 and June 2014. There's also a balloted Pacific Quota. The government had to move to block a surge of applications under the old policy when it revised the Business Migrant category in December. The points systems change over time.
The question isn't whether it's okay to vary immigration settings. but whether that lever will do the job Labour thinks it will. And, of course, how it will play out in an election year.
And yet, of course, simply throwing open the gates and accepting all comers is not going to be a smart idea.
Which we've never done.
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WH,
I think it's unfortunate that this has emerged from Labour's really very sensible and long overdue monetary policy proposal. Many of the problems and solutions identified in it have been widely discussed since the 1990s. It's worth quickly reading the thing if you haven't done so already.
I tend to favour low immigration levels on the proviso that those who re-settle here should be treated with more respect than I ever remember them getting. New Zealanders have repeatedly refused to iron out the inequalities arising from historical waves of migration, and I doubt we're capable of the careful planning needed to sensibly manage demographic change and rapid population growth.
Auckland's housing prices and transport concerns - being issues people have identified as problematic for decades - are really a case in point.
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At some point in the not too distant future we are going to have to look at finding a place for those displaced by climate change when the islands become inundated.
Of course that will just crank up the AGW deniers to fever pitch... "we shouldn't have to take them, its not our fault..." -
So, they're looking at work visas and the family reunification cap, because they're the only categories big enough for the leverage they want. This is where is might get messy for them.
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Sacha, in reply to
.. Labour immigration spokesman Trevor Mallard ..
bless
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On a slight tangent, Australia's job market and economy is going to have to free-fall a lot further before you'd expect to see many Aussies chancing their arm in NZ on a substantially economic basis. The economy and especially wages here are still way ahead of NZ's. We'll see what happens if Tonee and crew dismantle the minimum wage.
I expect there may be a trickle of "political refugees" who simply can't stomach the current govt. And a whole bunch of NZ citizens returning home if they lose their jobs. This will mostly be the manual and service workers that make up the preponderance of economic migrants. But I'll be in the same boat if I lose my job, especially since more agencies in Canberra are requiring security clearances.
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Moz, in reply to
there may be a trickle of "political refugees" who simply can't stomach the current govt.
That Nice Mr Key{tm} is doing his very best to make sure they don't see NZ as an attractive refuge.
Australia's job market and economy is going to have to free-fall a lot further before you'd expect to see many Aussies chancing their arm in NZ on a substantially economic basis
Hahahahahaha. The numbers are not even close. And did I mention that the other day I was chatting to some Canterbury famer's wives at the Opera House? "culture", there's more of it in a bigger city (whodathunkit). But as far as "draw me back to NZ" goes, the money is a long way off.
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Maybe there should be a minimum salary for work visa applicants (such visas are normally to do a particular job for one employer). That would ensure that workers are genuinely skilled (in order to attract that salary) and are not being imported just to save money on employing an NZ resident.
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Greg Dawson, in reply to
While simultaneously adding another lever against wage depreciation. Sneaky, but good.
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Ashish Naicker sounds very much like an Indian name to me. Nothing seems to be black and white.
Stuff Nation: Cunliffe correctly identifies problem to housing crisis
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taking in refugees is to create work in the rest of this big empty country
Agree 100%. NZ is not a small country. It is this big, empty country.
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