Migrants have been ripped off by successive governments
Thank you for being here.
I want to take a couple of minutes to talk about and explain
A lot of people don’t actually know what happened in this country
And it was a deliberate policy of successive governments – National and Labour governments – over the last two decades to lie and cheat those people who they brought to New Zealand around their chances of transitioning to residency.
To lie and cheat people so that 15 percent of the tertiary education budget was being paid by you in order to subsidise the New Zealand public education system.
But there was no a single, actually, they subsidised the public education system but did not increase the number of New Zealand-born students in the public education system.
They weren’t using it to expand access to the public education system, they were using it just as a subsidy – they were essentially taxing people with a lie that they would get a chance at residency.
The students and the workers who came were given a lie that would get a chance.
I want to explain why it was a lie and how deliberate it was.
In New Zealand, for several decades, the New Zealand residents we lost 40,000 a year on average to Australia and other countries.
On average we were losing 40,000 a year overseas. We’ve done it every year for two decades.
Two decades ago, in the year 2000, we had three main categories of people coming in.
Students – 40,000; workers – 40,000; permanent residents 40,000. So we were losing 40,000 and we were bringing in around 40,000 permanent residents to replace them and another 40,000 on work visas and another 40,000 on student visas.
Since the year 2000 the student visa numbers have trebled to 120,000, the worker visa numbers have increased six times to quarter of a million before Covid
And the permanent resident number stayed the same – 40,000.
It was never intended for you to have residency. It was never intended you to access residency. You were stolen from in my view.
I am deeply ashamed of my governments – both governments. Deeply ashamed that they told you to come here and study at our universities and work in these jobs and you will have a chance at residency when they knew it was a lie.
You cannot squeeze quarter of a million and another 120,000 – that is 360,000 visas in 2020 before Covid – 360,000 visas being issued to people and then have the permanent residence number not changing at all in two decades.
They were putting you all on a treadmill that had no exit.
So now we have people who have been here a decade or more – I met one chef in an Indian restaurant last week – 14 years he had been here, renewing his visa.
They had been taking money off him every few years, taking money off him, taking money off him. taking money off him. And it’s theft. It’s theft.
When they charge you 40 or 50 thousand dollars to go to university for a year
And they tell you on the Immigration New Zealand website that you are going to have a chance of transitioning to residency
and they know that it is a lie then they are stealing that money off you.
I think all governments over the last twenty years owe the immigrant community in New Zealand the deepest apologies possible for stealing from you, for cheating you for depriving you of your rights.
Now we have an opportunity. Covid gave us an opportunity. It is a horrible disaster in the world and in many of the countries where many of you are from
But in this country, it has given us an opportunity to do a reset on a humanitarian basis
Because they brought people here and they knew they were going to be exploited. They knew they were going to be cheated. Not just taking money off you to subsidise the public education system,.
Every time the Ministry – so Because of this very large number of people coming in on these temporary visas, whole industries were dependent on migrant labor, recycling migrant labor.
All of agriculture, hotels, hospitality, restaurants, construction and so on. Industry after industry.
And every time the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment did an investigation of an industry, it found that 80 to 90 percent of the employers were not meeting legal minimum standards. 80-90 percent. New Zealand employers mostly.
In the Christchurch construction industry after the earthquake and the rebuild – 90 percent of the employers were not meeting minimum legal standards.
The solution wasn’t to lock them up, prosecute them for being cheats and liars and depriving their workers – no, no (the employers) got a slap on the wrist and (told) to do better.
But they did agree at the time that the visas should be decoupled. They said that in order to reduce exploitation in the construction industry in Christchurch workers should be able to change their jobs.
So they know it’s a solution. It’s a solution that the immigration department (MBIE) proposed for the Christchurch workers but have refused to extend that principle to workers across New Zealand.
They know what the solutions are. They know that the only way we can fix this problem is to give
– pathways to residency
– reunite the families
– decouple the visas. and
– amnesty for overstayers
Because it is not their fault they have been forced into that situation. It the dirty, filthy exploitative system that was created to do it.
One of AO/NZ’s dirty little secrets. Like you, I feel ashamed, especially when I’ve seen some of the casualties of this cistern first hand both here and offshore.
And now the Ministerial and managerialists’ latest PR and spin: “We want the [proposed] reforms to be employer led” when as you say: “…80 to 90 percent of the employers were not meeting legal minimum standards. 80-90 percent. New Zealand employers mostly.” And that also shows another lie that’s bandied about the place – i.e. that its only immigrants ripping off their own.
This, and the PTE scams are apparently “best practice”. Bullshit! This “best practice” is the same sort of practice that occurs elsewhere in the world where slavery and exploitation occurs.
A common phrase used by many who’ve been through our cistern, and a cistern INZ/MoBIE and Minister want to continue – and actually make even worse is “it’s all about the money”.
And they seem to think that the Labour Inspectorate can manage the exploitation of workers, (often essential workers that assisted us through the pandemic) when it’s only recently they’ve begun to take it seriously, and when they won’t ever be able to combat the extent of the problem.
Has anybody ever actually asked WHAT the reason is for tying visas to a specific employer – i.e. bondage where the bonded has already paid for the privilege of being bonded. I’ve only ever heard one pathetic excuse (from Tuariki Delamere) who thinks it’s more important that immigration advisors arranging employers to not have their slaves poached by others than it is the welfare of the slaves).
Oh, I forgot – it’s “best practice”
If Labour, or the gNatz/ACT for that matter, think this is going to go away, they’re badly mistaken.
Nope don’t think so. Yes our government has been lazy and used immigration to pretend they have a rock star economy but many migrants who should not have gained NZ permanent residency are abusing the system and have fake and misleading paperwork or are going to be a drain on NZ for the rest of their lives.
On the other hand was talking to some migrants who have jobs as doctors…. yep believe it or not, as migrants they are having trouble getting their NZ residency. The joke is that you need to be a truck driver or work as a fast food manager to get support for NZ residency and having someone on the other side of the world doing the paper work is obviously not working as maybe the bribe is not coming from the honest migrants who are not gaining residency but actually have real skills and pay taxes.
The rip off is, that businesses in low paid industries who pay poorly in NZ or gain financially from it, have led the battle to get low paid migrants into NZ or themselves as low grade ‘entrepreneurs’ of a fish and chip shop, and then the rest of the country has to support the low paid migrants into state and emergency housing and health care and welfare as they compete against NZ poor.
Funny enough someone analysed the world’s top billionaires and they found retail was the biggest source of wealth in the world (yep rampant consumerism pays). So of course the richest folks in the world in retail, can’t pay real wages around the world!
Just as bad, are the rich but income less migrants who seem to make a killing ‘investing’ in NZ and destroy the NZ businesses that they buy or get sweetheart deals from NZ government that they don’t bother to give to NZ citizens.
AKA Peter Thiel https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/billionaire-peter-thiel-makes-fortune-after-sweetheart-deal-with-government/B22JSOU3762DJCI53XCR4MLRHU/
Mikhail Khimich https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/photos-show-tourist-attraction-waiwera-thermal-resort-falling-into-disrepair/XDAG4672QITILBRNGFODUPOBPQ/
Rich migrants also don’t seem to need to meet normal immigration criteria or have to worry about NZ laws either.
Russian billionaire Mikhail Khimich skips court on drink-driving related charges
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/114186132/russian-billionaire-mikhail-khimich-skips-court-on-drinkdriving-related-charges
US billionaire spent 12 days in NZ before citizenship
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/334094/us-billionaire-spent-12-days-in-nz-before-citizenship
Guess what all these billionaire mega mansions are actually talking up all the best building sites, workers and resources in NZ, driving up prices, and then nobody can get their houses built like the doctors and nurses and poor in NZ!
Apparently migrants need certain types of migrants to work for them and they are not Kiwis but people from the Solomon Islands or Philippines! https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018791897/james-cameron-explains-dairy-cows-on-wairarapa-farm
Migrants bringing in other migrants to work for them even before they get NZ citizenship is part of the problem. Only NZ citizens should be able to bring in migrant workers and it needs to take 10 years of good behaviour and taxes and living in NZ to get NZ citizenship, not 12 days and a sweetheart dodgy deal or you are a dysfunctional migrant with high needs, who get compassionate stays!
NZ is somehow giving NZ citizenship or allowing migrants in NZ to prey on other migrants and Kiwis and have turned a blind eye. If you make millions exploiting migrant visas and then have to pay a $40k fine, it’s worth it!!! In fact keep going there is 200k of additional wage subsidies to claim!
22 restaurants, 120 staff – and now a $40,000 fine
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12014023
(Note a search of this man’s company SHAMIANA LIMITED showed over $200,000 in wage subsidies collected)
Auckland building boss charged with fraud after investigation into illegal labour
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12005146
Bakery owner to pay back $33,800 illegally deducted from worker’s wages
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/112128450/bakery-owner-to-pay-back-33800-illegally-deducted-from-workers-wages
Migrant worker speaks out against exploitation at rural Reporoa holiday park
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/118329341/migrant-worker-speaks-out-against-exploitation-at-rural-reporoa-holiday-park
Sikh temple to pay $100k for breaching employment laws
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/117040153/sikh-temple-to-pay-100k-for-breaching-employment-laws
Note government knew about all these scams in 2018 and have allowed them to continue and actually in some cases made it easier for the scammers!!!
Government in 100 days can crack down on other illegal activity but not wage and visa exploitation by new migrants to NZ.
The ‘bums on seats’ approach to processing NZ visas is allowing many migrants into NZ who are going to be a massive drain going forward with dodgy jobs and businesses, while filling up the process so that other migrants can’t get in or their visas processed in a timely manner.
(Note does not even seem to be immigrations fault, as when they try to process higher paid job visas then the woke cry ‘racism’ which is kinda racist as it’s about higher priced skills not race!)
Most guest workers in NZ are indentured (they can not change their employer and go work for another employer, its in their NZ visa).
The government was going to get rid of this requirement but employers pressured and lobbied them and that never happened.
Its unkiwi-like and disgusting to say the least, this is only one step before slavery.
The government,media and employers do not want the people of NZ to know this, so tell your family,work m8s and friends.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/our-yeah-nah-migration-policy-is-mean-and-fraudulent
@Mike and M, many migrants seem to have found ways to cope, their kids have the best money can buy including free NZ citizenship and free education and afford expensive after school lessons. Somehow many who are in NZ as migrants are better off than the NZ working poor who can’t afford to buy mortgage free houses!
“Hao and her late husband did not have work visas, but they established a small but very successful home painting business enabling them to buy a mortgage-free home,” Delamere said.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/teenage-kiwi-fears-deportation-because-parents-are-overstayers/JV5ZNSD74TGTYTDNIIWVNBKYAA/
saveNZ. Your a ranter M8 and I’m sick of your Bullshit! You will always find a way round the truth to rant on with your sick outpourings.
saveNZ You cant even respond in an enlightened way to my post, you just go off on a rant again and to keep giving links to the beat-up bigoted news story’s of the mainstream media,well that’s a total fail.
@ M. Maybe you should look in the mirror as you seem to be one of the migrants unravelling. Please if NZ doesn’t work for you just leave. Gracefully and without taking up services like mental health, legal aid and jail time when you start your journey home. Or maybe you are an exploiter and risk losing millions in exploiter Ponzi work visa schemes so popular here as you already have your NZ citizenship in the bag.
As for thinking the Herald link is a “beat-up bigoted news story’s” you clearly don’t bother reading them. MSM is fully pro migrant so most MSM stories have a pro migrant spin on them, aka poor migrant pensioner getting wealthy off NZ should stay and NZ should support them is the Heralds take if you bothered to read it. But when reading it they also disclose that the overstaying couple have a mortgage free home in NZ, they have taken up many resources to try and get them out of NZ, so not going by the rules clearly works well!
saveNZ I’m not a migrant you idiot! Your a real whinger
saveNZ I’m x NZ army and served overseas. You are a very twisted person and always ranting about the same thing. Can you please cease and desist or better still leave NZ
M, get the help you need, if you want to make a case for migrants then make it and stop attacking other people’s view points with evidence!
In NZ we are still allowed to have critical opinions!
Sadly most woke seem to think attacking the message and the message is OK, but funny enough fail to have little to zero evidence themselves on how well our low skills, low income migrant policy is working how it effects health and housing in NZ for the past 25 years.
P>S> hope you don’t own a firearm with your intolerance to another opinion.
Most guest workers in NZ are indentured (they can not change their employer and go work for another employer, its in their NZ visa).
The government was going to get rid of this requirement but employers pressured and lobbied them and that never happened.
Its unkiwi-like and disgusting to say the least, this is only one step before slavery.
The government,media and employers do not want the people of NZ to know this, so tell your family,work m8s and friends.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/our-yeah-nah-migration-policy-is-mean-and-fraudulent
Martyn,Mike and every one else in NZ, please stop calling these people migrant labour/workers.
They are “guest workers” that we treat very badly. These guest workers are not migrants because most have no pathway to stay here permanently.
You are buying into the narrative of the NZ govt and news media by stating this,they do not want NZers to know the truth.
I think its disgusting the way we treat these guest workers in NZ.
The truth is coming out and those who seem to want to keep the cash cows coming into NZ to exploit them (and NZ) just fall onto abuse of the facts.
The best way to stop exploiting the ‘guest workers’ is not to have them come into NZ to do guest work but to have Kiwis in NZ working instead and pay them appropriately. Yep we actually used to cope before mass immigration and those working here in low paid jobs were not at the food banks like now.
You can be a guest worker in NZ and qualify for working for families, free health care and DPB after 1 year of work. Many guest workers are taking advantage of NZ’s generous welfare rules to get NZ social welfare that they don’t get in their own countries and thus never want to leave.
NZ now has a major ‘cash’ worker problem also undercutting those migrants on work permits (often a scam and underpaid) and the working poor who already are citizens. No wonder everyone working those jobs seem to be getting poorer! The ceiling keeps getting lowered.
A guest work can’t acces to work for families benefit.
https://www.ird.govt.nz/working-for-families/eligibility
It says “you must be a New Zealand resident and have been in New Zealand continuously for at least 12 months at any time.”
Thus anybody who is resident in NZ for over 1 year which is typical for most students and guest workers seems to be eligible for WFF by my reading of the rules.
Thus if you set up a business here, aka takeaway or uber driver after 1 year of residency in NZ and have a child while being on a guest visa then you can claim working for families ($500 p/w approx) if you also work over 30 hours but your business pays you less than $9500…
WFF is based on any income earned not wages aka you can be self employed but earning little and still get WFF.
Anyway that is my reading of the rules based on what they say on the government websites.