Opinion: Immigration policy has merit

Labour leader Andrew Little says reforms are needed to ensure New Zealand's ballooning immigration numbers are sustainable. Photo / Mark Mitchell.

Immigration is set to become a key issue in this year's election.

The Labour Party went on the front foot this week with its proposal to dramatically cut the number of migrants accepted into New Zealand by 20,000-30,000 a year.

Leader Andrew Little says the reforms are needed to ensure New Zealand's ballooning immigration numbers are sustainable. Since 2013, immigration has been more than four times what was forecast.

The example he uses highlights the scale of the number of people wanting to make New Zealand home.

"One hundred and thirty thousand more people than expected to have settled here, equivalent to the population of Tauranga," he says.

Based on those figures, it's not hard to see why New Zealand has a housing crisis, especially in our largest city, Auckland.

Labour's plan, among other things, would stop overseas students getting visas to low-value courses that it says can serve as a back door for immigration.

Labour says it will also strengthen the Labour Market Test for work visas so they are not being used for jobs Kiwis can do, and make our skills shortage lists more regional so migrants coming in under them can only live and work in areas where there is a genuine skills shortage.

National MP Simon Bridges this week said the policy would stop thousands of skilled people migrating to New Zealand who played a key role in the country's growing economy.

It's a valid concern but, in my view, the country needs to take a step back and assess how many new arrivals it can cope with rather than struggling to keep up with demand. A regionalised immigration system could also benefit the Bay.

Perhaps, if we apply the brakes now, industries might also have time to steer young Kiwis towards trades and professions that will help address the skills shortage.