Andrew Little: Labour's approach to Tauranga's problems

Labour leader Andrew Little. Photo/Supplied

It's time to take a breather on immigration while we fix the housing crisis and make sure our cities can cope with rapid population growth. At the same time, we need to better match immigration for regional skills shortages so businesses in places like the Bay of Plenty can get skilled workers if there genuinely aren't Kiwis to do the work.

New Zealand is a country built on immigration. New migrants make New Zealand a better place, but the fact is, after nine years the National Government hasn't made the investments we need to cope with our expanding population.

Tauranga's population, for example, is growing at 3 per cent a year, contributing to soaring house prices, growing congestion, overcrowded schools, and strained health services. Labour will invest in those areas, and ease pressure from immigration.

Labour will get the balance right.

One way we'll do this is closing an unintended immigration backdoor route. National changed the rules to allow more international students to work while studying, causing a surge in visas granted for low-level courses. Most international students say they intend to stay after finishing study to work here. It has become a first step to immigration, rather than real education.

Labour will remove the ability to work on student visas for low level courses. Providers delivering high quality courses will not be affected.

We are also going to help Kiwis into jobs by ensuring businesses are going the extra mile to look locally first. All our employment plans are about upskilling Kiwis to fill the gaps. But if there are genuine skills shortages, we will help businesses get skilled labour from offshore.

Currently, there is a one-size-fits-all approach that means visas are issued for jobs in regions where there are no shortages and regions with a specific shortage can't get it on the list if it doesn't exist in other regions. We'll work closely with local businesses, unions and councils to develop regional skills shortage lists.

We think the Bay of Plenty will really gain from this. Plus, we will help the Bay build the houses people urgently need. Labour's KiwiBuild policy is about building houses at prices people can actually afford to buy. To do that, we'll need more construction workers. So we're creating a special KiwiBuild Visa so builders can bring in a skilled worker as long as they also train an apprentice.

All up, our moderate reforms will reduce net migration by 20,000-30,000 from more than 70,000 a year currently. It's a fresh approach that will take the pressure off while we make urgent investments and still ensure we get the skills we need to grow. We will make immigration a win-win for everybody.