United Future Policy Statement

United Future will:

• Develop a 10-year population strategy in government to identify the impact of demographic changes on our society, the economy, and other areas of government policy, and to develop policies to minimise the costs and capitalise on benefits that these changes may bring.
• Maintain, if not increase, the current net migration inflow of 10,000 residents per annum.
• Prioritise the residency applications of those the applications of those who have skills we need and a job offer that is relevant to those skills, and regularly update the priority occupations list.
• Encourage more foreign students to undertake study in New Zealand by promoting quality courses, and help find work for those who wish to stay here following their studies.
• Devise comprehensive and integrated immigrant settlement programmes, in consultation with the Federation of Ethnic Councils, to ensure that all new immigrants receive full information and ongoing support on all aspects of New Zealand society, including language, customs, job placement programmes, health and social services.
• Focus efforts on ensuring that those who arrive in New Zealand under the family or humanitarian quotas are supported into viable training and employment opportunities, to enable them to obtain financial independence faster and to counter negative stereotypes about some migrant groups.
• Establish a one-stop Business Development Agency to help migrants in setting up their own businesses.
• Encourage all migrants to consider themselves as New Zealanders, by promoting participation traditional New Zealand pastimes and pursuits amongst migrant groups, while supporting ethnic associations and providing positive opportunities for all New Zealanders to express their cultural heritage.
• Provide incentives for internal migration of both New Zealand citizens and migrants, to take infrastructural pressure off the main centres and to ensure that all regions benefit from the increased industry and cultural diversity that newly migrated populations bring. A declining natural birth means that outlying communities miss out on population growth if it is achieved primarily through immigration.
• Establish a retirement visa to allow parents of permanent residents and citizens to be sponsored to settle in New Zealand, provided the majority of immediate family members are already resident in New Zealand.
• Allow siblings of permanent residents and citizens more easy access to short-term visitors and limited purpose visas.
• Develop regional immigration programmes allowing regions to utilise immigration to meet skill needs where positions cannot be filled within New Zealand, through promotional material and website information.
• Form a trained, ready-response refugee team that can fly at short notice to the location of a refugee crisis and apply pre-set criteria to fill New Zealand's quota.
• Provide additional staffing resources to the Immigration Service to meet customer demand and speed up the applications process, especially in Auckland and at pressure points overseas.
• Increase resources for ESOL programmes to ensure that our newest residents can participate fully in education and life in New Zealand. Improving English language skills is a major factor in making friends outside migrants' own ethnic groups. Move away from classroom-based delivery to home tutoring or work-based lessons and give intensive English training for teachers already in immigrant communities so they can set up their own classes.
• Review the operations of NZQA to ensure that the process of formally recognising migrants' skills is effective and efficient.
• Ensure that advice and information is available to businesses to support them in hiring migrants to fill skill shortages, and support migrants with workshops and training to learn about the Kiwi work environment.
• Develop a global online service that matches potential skilled migrants with job opportunities in New Zealand to help fill critical skill shortages.
• Take a proactive approach to skills shortages through promotional events in overseas target markets with high proportions of skilled people
• Ensure that border security is sufficient to prevent the entry of those who have no right to enter, including boosting the Fraud and Investigations Unit.
• Establish a specific employment placement service for refugees.
• Support legislation to regulate immigration consultants
• Establish a nationally coordinated "mentor" program whereby all those accepted for migration to New Zealand are put in touch with a trained volunteer mentor prior to arrival in New Zealand. The mentor will, through the process of preparing to migrate and the first 12 months within New Zealand be able to discuss settlement issues and direct migrants to necessary specialist resources.
• Improve the collection of migration data to ensure that statistics are less able to be misinterpreted.

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United Future Parliamentary Office: Bowen House, Lambton Quay, Wellington
Email: Phone: (04) 471 9890