Labour, too, proposed to refuse permits for lower-paying jobs, which it believes can be filled from the ranks of young unemployed who are not in training and not even registered as unemployed because they are not taking jobs available. If Labour blocks highly motivated migrants from these jobs and not enough local youngsters can be recruited and quickly trained for them, these sectors will shrink and the contraction would be felt in the wider economy.
It is telling that the party is making an exception for the building industry. Building should be finding it easier to recruit locally than sectors such as hospitality and elderly care, yet Labour fears its state house building programme will be harmed if it cannot hire overseas. It could have more sympathy for firms in the private sector facing skill shortages.
Labour is also proposing to reduce foreign student visas which would damage a thriving "export" education industry. Leader Andrew Little called this an industry of "low level" courses yesterday, providing a "back door" to residency. They are language and craft courses, often provided by private training establishments. Labour will stop issuing student visas for courses below a bachelor's degree which are not independently assessed to be of high quality.
It means immigration is one of those election issues that will offer voters a stark choice: to continue with the tensions and pressures of a population boom or apply the brake and hope the boom slows without coming to a complete stop.