Eccentric US billionaire has plenty to offer NZ as citizen
We should welcome the world’s best and brightest with open arms.
Is New Zealand citizenship really for sale to the highest bidder? The revelation this week that US tech billionaire Peter Thiel is a Kiwi, and has been since 2011, has led to a barrage of questions from critics of the Government.
The cat was let out of the bag by the Overseas Investment Office, after an investigative journalist asked how Thiel’s company bought a $13.5 million Wanaka property in 2015 without any scrutiny.
Cue much agonising about whether rich foreigners are jumping the queue to enter the country and why we didn’t know about our new compatriot sooner.
But beneath all the bluster, it’s hard to escape the feeling this may be much ado about nothing.
After all, it’s not as if Thiel slipped the Government a burlap sack stuffed with $20 notes in exchange for a New Zealand passport and a lifestyle block.
He’s been a resident since 2006 and a permanent resident since 2009, giving him more than a decade of formal ties to the country.
During that time, Thiel has poured millions of dollars into Kiwi companies and donated $1 million to the Christchurch earthquake appeal.
He has promoted New Zealand on the world stage as a utopia, praising our ‘‘stark beauty’’ and ‘‘number eight wire mentality’’.
Unlike William Yan and Kim Dotcom, two previous highprofile migration cases, Thiel has not fallen foul of the law.
In fact, his biggest crimes appear to be (in order) backing new US President Donald Trump and, well, being a bit of a weirdo.
But like it or not Trump isn’t disappearing any time soon, and having a Kiwi as a close confidante may reap rewards that endure well past the Orange One’s departure from the Oval Office.
As for Thiel’s eccentricities, which include plans to inject himself with young people’s blood so he can live until he’s 120, there’s no denying he’s out there.
But if weirdness was a disqualifying factor for citizenship, more than a few native-born Kiwis would be nervous.
As Prime Minister Bill English said this week, we’re better off as a country if people like Thiel want to come here to invest in Kiwi businesses and donate to local causes.
We’re far from alone in providing a path to citizenship for the wealthy, either.
Australia, Canada, the UK and the US all offer ‘‘investor visas’’ for people willing to pour money into the country. Others go further, offering what are essentially cash for citizenship programmes.
Thankfully we’re not at that level, nor should we be.
But encouraging the best and brightest to lay down roots in New Zealand is something we should embrace, rather than taking up pitchforks against those whose ideologies we disagree with. The Government still must front up with the reasons for granting Thiel citizenship under ‘‘exceptional circumstances’’.
Its reluctance to provide information so far does add an element of doubt, although the Department of Internal Affairs has said it will release documents about Thiel next week.
Critics wanting to target the Government over migration should instead focus on the shameful exploitation of vulnerable immigrants – the subject of a feature in today’s Sunday Star-Times.
Those like Pritpal Singh, who came here in search of a brighter future but instead found himself working 80-hour weeks for as little as $25 a day, are being badly let down by the system.
Whether an American billionaire or an Indian student, anyone who wants to come to New Zealand, comply with our laws and make a positive difference should be welcomed.
Instead of obsessing over the political peccadilloes of someone like Thiel, let’s focus on those like Pritpal who really need our help.
We’re better off as a country if people like Peter Thiel want to come here to invest in Kiwi businesses and donate to local causes.