We are a nation of immigrants and ACT is a party that supports immigration. Located at the edge of the Earth, New Zealand as we know it exists because people have chosen to come here. Currently, we rely on immigration to maintain our population, as tens of thousands of native New Zealanders leave our shores each year.
Immigrants bring strengths to any country. Immigrating is a high risk activity and those who do it are usually prepared to work hard for a better life. International evidence shows that immigrants actually create jobs because they demand goods and services, have business connections to their home countries, and are more likely to start businesses than locals. As the baby boomers retire, the developed world will increasingly be engaged in a struggle to attract skilled workers. It is important that New Zealand is competitive as a place for immigrants to come to and to stay once they arrive.
One of the most important things that New Zealand can do to attract more skilled immigrants is to make the economic prospects here more appealing. Throughout New Zealand history, strong economic conditions have led to a net inflow of immigrants while weak economic conditions have led to a net outflow. New Zealand lost people during the 1970s. The outflow slowed during the 1980s and reversed during the 1990s as the economic reforms kicked in. Over the past decade the “brain gain” has slowed, and New Zealand is in danger of returning to outflow territory again.
In the last parliamentary term ACT pushed the government to:
• Improve economic growth by reducing the burdens of taxation and regulation. A stronger economy means more and higher quality immigrants will want to come to our shores.
See ACT’s policy sheet on the economy for more detail on our economic policy initiatives over the last parliamentary term.
ACT will keep working for more and better immigration through a stronger economy. A Party Vote for ACT is a vote to:
• Acknowledge that our country is built on immigration and acknowledge that a well balanced immigration policy can contribute greatly to New Zealand;
• Continue policies that favour making the country attractive to immigrants, lowering administrative barriers to entry;
• Push the next government to ensure that immigration policy favours productive workers who will enrich our society and economy, create jobs through entrepreneurship, links to home countries, and demand for goods and services;
• Push the next government to ensure that immigration does not become a drain on the New Zealand welfare state;
• Push the next government to realise that retaining New Zealanders and attracting highly skilled immigrants depends more than anything else on our economic performance. The next government must have a strong focus on reducing wasteful government spending and overregulation to improve economic performance.