Working immigrants

Dr Kit Withers argues John Key is responsible for bringing in skilled migrants instead of training “our young people”, resulting in house prices going up and our youth’s hopes going down, and further that this policy divides our society into haves and have-nots. Dr Withers askes why the media never questions this “strategy”.

There are several things wrong with Dr Withers’ argument. The first is that the Government brings in skilled migrants and provides training for our young people. Secondly, the skilled migrant category has been the policy of governments going back decades. Third, there is no evidence skilled immigrants push house prices up.

What is absent from Dr Withers’ argument is a consideration of the benefits of bringing skilled migrants into New Zealand. First, we have to replace the many skilled Kiwis who leave to work in Australia and elsewhere. Secondly, the cost to a country to produce a graduate professional, such as a doctor or an engineer, and to a lesser extent a teacher or a nurse, runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We should look at skilled migrants as gains and assets and not as losses or liabilities. National and Labour governments know this, hence their immigration policies.

Disclosure: I came here in 1999 as a “skilled migrant”.

Dr C. G. Marnewick, Bucklands Beach.