Clark rejects 'Kiwi cull' of migrants to Australia

By VERNON SMALL and NZPA

Australia, worried by increasing "back door" migration from New Zealand, wants the two countries to have the same immigration rules, creating a common border.

But Prime Minister Helen Clark has rejected the call by Australia's Immigration Minister, Philip Ruddock.

"We wouldn't agree to that. We have much more open visitor arrangements than Australia for a start," she said.

Mr Ruddock called for the two countries to harmonise their migration policies, but ruled out tightening visa requirements on New Zealanders crossing the Tasman.

Of the 31,000 New Zealand citizens who shifted permanently to Australia in the year to March 31, 9744 (30 per cent) were not born in New Zealand. This compared with 958 (12 per cent) 10 years ago.

Mr Ruddock said the figures suggested that people who could not get in under Australian selection criteria were getting NZ citizenship then crossing the Tasman.

"The question you have to ask yourself is whether New Zealand is in a position to select for us a significant proportion of our migration programme," he said.

"From our point of view, it's preferable that the New Zealand Government uses selection criteria similar to our own."

Mr Ruddock said yesterday that Australians were comfortable with the numbers of New Zealanders who had settled there over the years.

But where people became uncomfortable was when migrants who could not meet Australian selection criteria then made a decision to get access via New Zealand.

New Zealand allows the citizens of a wide range of countries to enter without visas whereas Australia allows only New Zealanders in without vetting.

"We judge that to be to the benefit of our tourism trade and to be to overall economic benefit," Helen Clark said.

She dismissed as a "beat-up" a report in Australia's Sunday Telegraph newspaper under the headline "Kiwi Cull" that Mr Ruddock wanted to introduce a visa system to halve the number of New Zealand immigrants to Australia.

While 31,615 New Zealanders migrated to Australia, only 5208 Australian citizens came the other way.

Helen Clark said the latest round of comments had been sparked by the so-called "transitional arrangement" whereby overstayers could apply to remain in New Zealand.

It is estimated that about a third of the 18,000 to 22,000 overstayers will win the right to stay.