Erica Stanford, Press Pause on Immigration.

An Open Letter to the Minister of Immigration

This was originally posted in a graphic format on our Twitter.

26 Jan 2024

Hon Erica Stanford MP

Minister of Immigration

Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160 

Dear Minister,

It is concerning to us that in the recently released immigration data results for the year-ended September 2023, it showed that New Zealand accepted a population the size of Wellington City - over 230,000 immigrants - to settle across this country. As immigrants pour in from overseas, Kiwis flee elsewhere - with a whopping 40+ thousand New Zealanders leaving to live in other countries. These New Zealanders understand that they cannot reasonably compete with immigrants in the job market, the housing market and survive the cost of living crisis here when the Government imports >230,000 people per annum to compete with them for scarce resources. 

As a Minister of the Crown, you have a responsibility to advocate for an immigration policy that best supports Kiwis - the ones actually entitled to live and work in New Zealand, not foreigners. A year before the National Party lost the 2017 election to the Labour Party, the Government was warned by the New Zealand people that immigration levels (of which gross and net immigration levels were only half of what it is today) were far too high and needed to be reduced. The National Government of the day refused to listen to New Zealanders, and by the end of the next year Winston Peters was shaking hands with Jacinda Ardern.

However, although policies like the foreign home buyers ban were made law, overall immigration failed to decrease. Now, New Zealand is in a predicament where our working class can’t afford to live in their own houses, purchase NZ-grown food or wait a reasonable time for hospital care. The cost of living keeps Kiwis from the high standard of living we once had and the high demand for housing means Kiwis are continuously driven out of being able to own a home in their lifetimes. It should be no surprise then that more NZ citizens than ever are leaving for Australia and other countries. 

As newly minted Minister of Immigration, you and this Government have the opportunity to reverse the disastrous immigration policies of the previous one. As we’re sure you know, your powers under the Immigration Act 2009 grant you the ability to change visa requirements essentially overnight. You must commit to an immediate reduction of residency visas and gradual reductions in working visas over a short-term period, as the small number of tax cuts the Government has promised will never be enough to help a working-class or even middle-class family purchase or rent a home if they have to compete with an endless flood of migrants - and New Zealanders’ ability to support their families are in your hands.

The National Party used to be the champions of common sense government policy, particularly on matters of immigration. When your father migrated to New Zealand, the National Party enforced stringent immigration requirements, and when you were born they promised a capped immigration intake of 5,000 people per annum, ensuring that New Zealand citizens could get ahead. Now, your own electorate of East Coast Bays has changed dramatically since the turn of the century, with some neighbourhoods having local European and Maori as minorities in their own country. Will you continue to perpetuate this injustice to the people of New Zealand and East Coast Bays?

Kiwis have repeatedly said ‘yeah, nah’ to mass migration in the past, don’t let it be the fall of your Government once more. Minister, you have the power - Press Pause on Immigration.

Zealandia Heritage Foundation.

zealandiahf@gmail.com