Electioneering sure to distort immigration realities

It is exciting to see Christchurch becoming an increasingly diverse, multicultural city.

OPINION: Immigration will clearly be a political football in the forthcoming general election.

Regrettably, this means that sound immigration policy is likely to be compromised by short-term political agendas.

Because of our extraordinary circumstances in Christchurch over the past six years, we have relied very heavily on short-term and permanent immigration, domestically and internationally.

It is important to note that at present, 70 per cent of all inbound immigration in our region is not rebuild-related. Most migrants are being employed in the underlying fast-growing and diverse regional economy.

The recent Canterbury Development Corporation economic update demonstrates that our region needs five times the long-run average of historic inbound migration to meet employment and economic growth projections.

Our dependency on continuing strong levels of immigration should not be underestimated.

Export education is an important part of our diverse economy.

These overseas students provide a significant economic contribution, and they also pave the way for skilled permanent migrants to either stay in New Zealand, or come back after finishing their education.

The Colombo Plan of the 1970s, which attracted high-calibre students from Malaysia, particularly to Lincoln University, is a very good example of that. That legacy lives on.

The unemployment rate in Christchurch city is 4.9 per cent; excluding the city, the unemployment rate in wider Canterbury is 2.7 per cent.

That level of unemployment is too low to be sustainable in a growing economy, and the key solution is robust domestic and international migration.

Migrants do not come to New Zealand, and to our region, at the expense of local employment opportunities. They come to earn, to spend, to contribute and to create opportunities, not to stifle them.

It is hard to believe that locals looking for jobs in our region cannot find them with an unemployment rate of 2.7 per cent.

It is also hard to accept that we can continue to grow our regional economy without the ongoing support of new migrants.

It is exciting to see Christchurch becoming an increasingly diverse, multicultural city with people of different nationalities coming here – many because of the rebuild – and wanting to stay here to enjoy one of the finest lifestyles available anywhere in the world.

A major driver of the political posturing around immigration is the obvious capacity constraints in Auckland. Christchurch and Canterbury should not get caught up in that problem.

As a region, we welcome international migrants and domestic migrants, including our friends from Auckland who are living in a stretched community with stretched resources. Here, we have all the fundamentals for good living, and plenty of capacity for others to join us.

Let’s take the politics out of the migration debate.

We need stable, positive migration policies and strategies that will stimulate our economy, enrich our communities and satisfy our employment requirements.

It will be a travesty if immigration, as a political football, ends up resulting in an own goal.