“When Labour campaigned on reducing immigration, I didn’t think they would make New Zealand so unattractive no one would want to come here,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“When Labour campaigned on reducing immigration, I didn’t think they would make New Zealand so unattractive no one would want to come here,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“Recruiters are saying that overseas workers are being put off coming to New Zealand because of crime rates, cost of living, slow visa processing and availability of housing. While only one person applied for residency under the new Active Investor Plus visa category.
“Despite having a labour crisis in almost every part of the economy, New Zealand is losing around ten thousand more people each year than there are moving here. One recruiter who attended a jobs fair in the United Kingdom said out of the hundreds of people he spoke to not one was interested in New Zealand.
“Labour has sunk brand New Zealand because it has failed in its core role of governance. Back in 2017 I provided some advice to Jacinda Ardern before Parliament adjourned:
“Government is basically a service industry. I hate to tell you this, but you are there to provide a basket of services to New Zealanders, as the Prime Minister said in her address when this Parliament resumed—to provide services together that people can't provide alone—and the question is whether or not those services are efficient. You can do the marketing—or stardust, as Bill English called it—but you actually have to provide services that work.”
“I also warned the Prime Minister against spraying away the Government’s $18 billion surplus; “It'll make the Government popular for a short period of time… the problem is we eventually run out of other people's money, and when that happens, people are going to ask: "Do the schools work? Does the Government have a solution to the enormous inequity between Māori and Pasifika and Pakeha and Asians in this country?"
“Unfortunately, she didn’t heed my advice. New Zealand is now forecast to be $19 billion in deficit. Meanwhile our health system is in crisis, crime is out of control, literacy and numeracy rates are in freefall, and the housing crisis has not been fixed.
“Jacinda Ardern focussed entirely on the stardust and forgot all about the service aspect of government. No matter how well you market the country on overseas talk shows and at global junkets, people still won’t come here if core services aren’t being delivered.
“Do we want to carry on in comfortable decline with our population dwindling away and our economy shrinking? Or do we want to make our country the preferred destination for ideas, talent and investment? The real question is: Can we afford not to do this?”