McDowall JamesDr JAMES McDOWALL (ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. In considering this bill to extend the extraordinary powers granted to the Minister of Immigration we thought it prudent to reflect on the overall performance and outcomes achieved by Immigration New Zealand on the direction of the Minister since the enactment of the original legislation. ACT supported that legislation as has been stated already given the high degree of uncertainty caused by the novel coronavirus and of course the lack of an obvious vaccine—in fact no one really knew if we were even going to get a vaccine in those days.Like many in this House we put our trust in the Minister to use these extraordinary powers to work hard to protect families and livelihoods in the context of a global pandemic. We had high hopes for a smart and compassionate border but the Government achieved neither. It's also not just about the border; it's about the treatment of migrants already here in New Zealand. The global pandemic has obviously brought about many challenges especially with regards to New Zealand border management in the context of an elimination strategy. Those who are directly affected by the Government's immigration policies were suddenly caught up in all that uncertainty and we owed it to them to get it right.What has unfortunately occurred repeatedly over time is that the Minister has leaned on COVID-19 as a convenient sole excuse for a department that has long performed appallingly and is only getting worse. Migrants and employers are well aware that the problems at Immigration New Zealand started well before the pandemic. As a co-owner of an immigration law firm I myself have seen a department that is steadily falling apart at the seams and the negative impact that this has had on migrants and businesses over the years.This bill brings us to where we are today with a promised hopefully widespread vaccination campaign under way that gives hope to all New Zealanders and prospective New Zealanders. We are in a very different place to where we were at the passing of the original legislation and in ACT's opinion an extension until May 2023 is asking too much—especially given the performance of the Minister. The world will look very different in 2023 and it is irresponsible for us to support such extraordinary powers to the Minister to act unilaterally for almost the rest of this parliamentary term.For those migrants looking for a pathway to live and work permanently in New Zealand they were disheartened by the suspension of the expression of interest programme which closed off the skilled migrant category of residency. There are now more than 7000 people waiting in that queue and it's growing rapidly and going absolutely nowhere fast—talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Given that application wait times for just the existing skilled migrant category applications can exceed two years and is most likely getting worse I think the Minister needs to be upfront to those waiting in the queue. Will they actually ever have their applications looked at let alone processed to completion—I find it hard to imagine—or will the Minister have to face a reality of the calamity that he himself has caused? What the Government has effectively done is lock thousands of skilled migrants into temporary visas all the while pretending that we have a proper system in this country. This is also bad news for employers who reach out to me on a daily basis to express their frustrations over the lack of skilled people available for work. And with families being split many migrants are giving up and leaving New Zealand.On the other side of the equation the border exemption process is an absolute lottery it's a shambles and it barely evaluates people's circumstances properly. I heard from one migrant who actually won that lottery and good on her. She made more than 40 applications all saying exactly the same thing and then finally got approved. I mean what planet is Immigration New Zealand living on seriously? On Tuesday of this week I attended the peaceful demonstration by split family members outside Parliament. Many of them are highly skilled migrants healthcare workers teachers scientists and so on. Their stories are heartbreaking: years without seeing their loved ones including very young children. Resolving their desperate situations doesn't even require extraordinary powers and there's certainly enough capacity in managed isolation and quarantine. In fact there are a thousand spaces today—unbelievable. If the Minister had been doing his job properly and using his extraordinary powers for good he'd be responsive in granting visas and entry so that families can be reunited with their loved ones. It should have happened months ago yet here we are without a plan from the Government—well they don't have a plan—and without hope. Unfortunately it's gone into the Minister's overflowing too-hard basket.The Recognised Seasonal Employer situation as we all know is dire and the policies of the Government to try and address this have been totally insufficient with fruit rotting on the ground season after season growers closing down after decades of being in business and with our exports suffering while many Pacific Island countries have been COVID-free for a long time or have never even had COVID. The Government's efforts to fill vacancies with Kiwis have utterly failed and we're now even seeing health and safety taking a turn for the worst as farmers and long-term workers are at the point of exhaustion—beyond desperate" in the words of one farmer whom I spoke to. It's a straightforward fix but clearly it's just all too hard for the Government.Common themes emerged in my conversations with immigration advisers and lawyers up and down the country: desperation no plan no transparency and a complete demise of Immigration New Zealand's credibility. One well-known immigration adviser and I'm happy to say former Labour Party supporter said to me "I thought this was a listening Government caring kind but that has long been eradicated."Hon Kris Faafoi: Richard Prebble!Dr JAMES McDOWALL: Others in the sector told me that people are on the brink of mental health breakdowns—Hon Kris Faafoi: We got rid of him a long time ago!Dr JAMES McDOWALL: —with counsellors overwhelmed with migrants in crisis. And I hope the migrants in crisis with mental health issues know that the Minister is laughing at them right now. Many are entering poverty—living in vans because they have to look after their families at home. The result will be a long-term traumatised migrant population. With extraordinary powers there needs to be extraordinary accountability and extraordinary performance. This bill removes a layer of accountability that frankly should be reinstated. The primary legislation despite its shortcomings should be respected. And I would also note that the supposed safeguards in the bill are relatively meaningless given the make-up of the Labour-led Government. A two-year extension of these powers could simply extend the pain that migrants will have to endure under this Government's watch.We've had enough of Immigration New Zealand we've had enough of this Minister and we are opposing this bill."