City ‘can handle more refugees’
Suggestions Palmerston North could be home to a new refugee resettlement centre have raised questions about whether the city could cope with the extra people.
The Green Party wants to boost the number of refugees New Zealand accepts every year from 750 to 5000.
The party also proposes setting up a second resettlement centre outside of Auckland. The country’s only resettlement centre is in Mangere, Auckland, though cities such as Palmerston North help refugees integrate into their new country.
Green Party candidate Thomas Nash said he would love the second centre to be built in his home town of Palmerston North.
The city has had the thirdhighest intake of refugees in the country, settling as much as 25 per cent of the refugee quota in some years.
‘‘I think it is a city that can take more people, in terms of infrastructure,’’ Nash said.
‘‘Housing in general is relatively cheaper in Palmerston North than other parts of the country.’’
But NZ First’s Palmerston North-based MP Darroch Ball rubbished any suggestion of a second refugee centre or raising the quota.
Immigration was already too high. ‘‘It’s irresponsible for the Greens to come out with a policy like this,’’ Ball said.
‘‘They can be on some moral crusade if they want, but the reality is different for struggling Kiwis in New Zealand right now.
‘‘We have hundreds of Kiwis struggling to get into a home.’’
The Government announced last year it would increase the quota from 750 to 1000 refugees from 2018 – a move it said would cost an extra $25 million a year.
Nash has been to conflict zones during his 15-year humanitarian career, and said many of the people fleeing those places were in situations of ‘‘total despair’’.
‘‘It’s about doing our bit to help people who are fleeing from war, suffering and persecution around the world. ‘‘I think that’s morally right.’’ He acknowledged there were rising living costs and increasing immigration, but said the country had the ability to cope.
‘‘Immigrants [to New Zealand] have always made a really positive contribution.’’
The party would fund part of the $350m cost of its policy partly thorough an ‘‘Investor Plus’’ visa, which would grant residency to people willing to invest more than $10m in New Zealand.
Palmerston North MP and Labour’s immigration spokesman Iain Lees-galloway said his party had a different view to the Greens.
It proposes raising the quota to 1500 a year, which Lees-galloway said was based on what those working with refugees felt the country could take.
‘‘We absolutely need to increase the quota. It has been 30 years since we last reviewed the quota.’’
He described the Greens’ policy as ‘‘ambitious’’.
‘‘While we need to increase the quota to 1500 during our first term in Government, what we won’t then do is wait another 30 years before reviewing it.
‘‘We have had various ambassadors and senior politicians from other countries come and tell our Government we need to be doing more to pull our weight.’’
A second settlement centre would not be needed immediately under Labour’s plan due to recent upgrades to Mangere.
He suggested Palmerston North would be well placed to take up such a role in future.
National candidate Adrienne Pierce could not be reached for comment.