Editorial: We've ample room for more people

One of the prevailing myths of this country is that the world's teeming millions are clambering to come here. It is a natural assumption. Those who live here can imagine no more pleasant place to be. But many of those who come here, as the Herald's series on immigration has found, find that clean and green peace and quiet comes with severely limited economic opportunities. Many have come here, found it too quiet, and moved on to Australia, along with the usual exodus of young New Zealanders looking for brighter lights, better things.

Yet still the myth persists that to invite more immigration is to "open the floodgates." In 1996, Winston Peters played precisely to that popular misconception and catapulted his party from nowhere in the polls of January to a point that it was able to decide the Government in December. But it is instructive to remember that he did not shut the gate. National had done that in 1995 when it took fright after a couple of years in which immigration met its target. That is the kind of inconsistency that has characterised this country's immigration policies for 30 years.

In that time the population has been practically stagnant and the economy has struggled to develop a broader range of exports from a small domestic population and a tiny pool of business leadership and capital.

For the past decade or so, immigration policies have been favouring people with business skills and capital to invest. But those are not as portable as they seem. It is not easy to do business in a different culture and few migrants will transfer their capital until they can see a secure home for it here. And some find when they get here that they cannot practice their profession because they face English language tests. When foreign-trained doctors have to resort to driving taxis it is a national waste.

Slowly the country is awakening to the fact that if it wants to import people (and it is still in two minds about that) it cannot simply give grudging admission and leave them to sink or swim in their new environment. Professions are beginning to help migrants to meet their practising requirements. The Government hopes soon to devise programmes to help Asian arrivals in particular to make connections in business and professional circles in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. With bodies such as the Auckland Chamber of Commerce behind the idea, it ought to be possible.

It seems we have been doing a better job welcoming and helping to settle refugees, thanks to the quiet work of the Mangere reception centre described in our report today. It is a pity in more ways than one that those who flee unrest or persecution have to be brought into the country so quietly. Their stories could raise interest here in the troubles they have left behind.

And their welcome would be all the warmer if New Zealanders knew more about their ordeals. They come here from a greater variety of countries than they did when New Zealand was able to give preference to refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia. These days the refugee resettlement programme brings more than 20 different nationalities into New Zealand and our social mix is a little richer for it. We need them, as we need any enterprising, law-abiding people who want to come here.

Our capricious, stop-go immigration arrangements are just symptoms of a larger dilemma. Do we have enough people? Immigrants who move on clearly think not. Those who value our environment think any concerted population boost would destroy it. Yet in the 1950s and 1960s we contemplated a much larger population by 2000 than it has turned out to be. We have plenty of room. We can accommodate a few more millions and still protect the best of our environment. We can easily ensure that services and infrastructure keep pace with deliberate, planned population growth. We should think about it.

The immigrants - a Herald series

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