Parmar Parmjeet: Immigration Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third ReadingText is subject to correctionParmar Parmjeet: Immigration Amendment Bill (No 2) — Third Reading[Sitting date: 30 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:3107. Text is subject to correction.]Dr PARMJEET PARMAR (National):Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the Immigration Amendment Bill (No 2) in its third reading. I support the bill. This has been a very interesting debate. Why I say so is that it reveals that the Labour Party does not care about migrant workers’ exploitation and many contributions from that side will remain in my mind for a very long time because I am so surprised. I do realise that I will not have time to deal with them all but if I talk about my electorate Mt Roskill—Mt Roskill is the hub of migrants. In Mt Roskill I have more people born overseas than people born here in New Zealand. If I talk about Auckland—according to our latest census we know that one in four people in Auckland was born overseas and the prediction is that in another 15 years it will be one in two—one in two people in Auckland will have been born overseas. So this is a very much - needed bill for New Zealand especially when it is becoming so diverse.As I said I will not have enough time to deal with all the Labour contributions so to move on—I had a trip just last Sunday down from Auckland to Palmerston North to attend and speak at an Indian function. This was just a day trip so I was dressed up in my very traditional Indian outfit. As I arrived at the airport and went through the usual process of checking in and getting my boarding pass I was constantly offered help. Doors were opened for me people were very kind and very genuine in their greetings and this continued on the plane too. I got numerous compliments. I was actually amazed—I never thought that I could be treated so well just while catching a domestic flight. Then it clicked: it could be because of my very traditional Indian outfit. It is quite possible that the people at the airport and on the plane thought that I was a tourist or a visitor. We know in New Zealand that we are such a friendly nation and there is this kind of kindness and care that we do not receive anywhere else in the world.So when these tourists and visitors come to New Zealand and they experience this care and this courtesy they are instantly hooked. And if any of these tourists are planning to migrate to another country New Zealand is No. 1 on their list. But then when these families migrate to New Zealand they are no longer tourists; they are migrants. And then they are not always treated with that same care and courtesy when they are looking for jobs. Rather they are met with migrant exploitation.So this bill is to ensure that we have fair firm and fast processes in place to crack down on migrant worker exploitation. This bill sends out a clear message that migrant workers have the same employment rights and protection as all other workers. I am really grateful to the Minister in charge the Hon Michael Woodhouse for bringing in this bill and I am grateful to the previous Transport and Industrial Relations Committee chaired by David Bennett for the work it has done on this bill because I understand the importance of this bill. It is important that we have legislation regulations and rules in place to assure our migrant workers that when it comes to employment their rights are the same as those of all other workers.This bill is to protect the rights of new migrant workers going into work. This bill is also about strengthening our ability to protect our borders. And it is sending the message that this National Government is really serious about migrant worker exploitation and that we want to come down hard on those people who exploit migrant workers as well.It is also about clarifying our existing Immigration Act and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system. This bill extends the powers of immigration officers so that they are able to check on employers to see that they are complying with the Act and also if they have information that there could be some workers who are being exploited at a worksite. This also will enable them to determine that workers are complying with their work visa conditions. This issue of migrant worker exploitation is a very serious one because it takes away the trust of migrant workers in our system. Secondly these employers—those who employ these people at substandard conditions—are able to provide their services at a much lower cost than compliant businesses and this can result in compliant businesses closing down and numerous people becoming jobless.We know that the relationship between migration and the economy is a linear one. Under this National Government our economy is doing well so there is this huge influx of people coming into New Zealand. So it is really important that we protect migrant workers’ rights and that we also protect our borders. This bill will make our immigration system more effective and also by giving these extended powers to immigration officers to be able to monitor worksites we are sending the message that we want to make our immigration system a really reliable one.This issue of the exploitation of migrant workers is a real one. Unfortunately those employers who exploit migrant workers are often former migrants themselves. I have come across a few cases. One case was where this person was offered a job which was fine. It was on the minimum wage. He was offered a place to live. When he turned up at work this place where he was supposed to live was actually a small room in that same commercial building from which the business was being operated. There was no separate toilet or bathroom facility and he also claimed that he was called in to work on his days off. In another case I heard there were similar claims that they did not have any days off. These people are actually hired on false terms. These are systemic breaches of our employment standards. It is really important that we do take care of those people who are being exploited. There are numerous workers who are being exploited including migrant workers and also international students.The penalties in the bill reflect the seriousness of this offence. It is really important that we send the message out that it is a serious offence to exploit migrant workers and also that this Government is taking tough action to fix this problem that is here and that this problem is a real problem.This bill also changes the way biometric information is collected. This is to address gaps in identity management capability for faster identification and to improve the Government’s ability to manage risk.Migration is a social fact. Although migration is important to us it also brings challenges in some areas which are addressed in this bill. The fact is that migrant workers are being exploited and it is time that we should act on this because we are becoming a very diverse country day by day. So I commend the bill to the House and I support the bill. Thank you.