Key lampoons Labour on migrants

Prime Minister John Key says that under Labour’s proposed immigration policy, he and his wife would not be in New Zealand.

Key’s parents were from Austria and Britain and wife Bronagh’s parents were Irish.

‘‘Under David Cunliffe, I wouldn’t be here and Bronagh wouldn’t be here,’’ Key said.

‘‘Well, some people would rejoice about that but there might be other people who don’t.’’

He said Cunliffe was arguing to ‘‘turn off the tap’’ on migrants but it was not possible to do that.

Some people, such as Australians, had the right to come here.

‘‘It would be a very knee-jerk reaction to go out there and all of a sudden say we are going to completely stop migration,’’ Key said.

However, Cunliffe has not argued to stop all immigration.

He has called for it to be more tightly controlled when it is running high, with the Treasury forecasting net flows into the country could top 40,000 this year.

He yesterday refused to put a number on what he would consider a sustainable flow but he has previously pointed to net flows of 5000 to 15,000 in the past and said that could rise to 20,000 when there were a lot of Kiwis returning.

Current immigration levels were ‘‘at the upper end of the spectrum’’, Cunliffe said.

Key said immigration figures were a ‘‘good-news story’’ and reflected a strengthening economy.

Migrants brought much-needed skills, such as for the Christchurch rebuild and the Waterview tunnel project in Auckland.

He said immigration was already tightly controlled.

‘‘It’s actually quite difficult to get into New Zealand,’’ he said.

There were cycles, and this was one where New Zealand was more attractive than other countries, he said.