Bennett David: Immigration Bill — In Committee 
Bennett David: Immigration Bill — In Committee 
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DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 I will follow on from the comments made by members of this House in regard to the Immigration Bill. This is a once-in-a-generation rewrite of the immigration legislation. One will find there is common cause amongst members of this Parliament and past Parliaments to ensure that we get it right to the extent that is possible. We see a great deal of support across the parties in the Chamber to make sure we have the best bill going forward. As a member of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee which looked at this bill—and there are some Labour members here that were on that committee—I would like to pay tribute to Mark Gosche who did a tremendous job of leading this bill through the committee and also to the now Speaker of the House Lockwood Smith who lead the National charge in regard to the bill. He had a huge impact on how the bill was treated during the committee’s deliberation. Those two individuals need to be singled out for special mention and support. 
I congratulate the current Minister of Immigration Dr Jonathan Coleman on getting this bill to the stage where it has come before the Committee. That is a tribute to his hard work. As the previous speaker said many Ministers have endeavoured to get the bill to this stage but have not had that kind of success. I say well done to the Minister and well done to the officials who have spent many years progressing this legislation. 
It is important that New Zealanders understand that this is the Immigration Bill but it is only a procedural bill. When we talk about immigration many New Zealanders think of who can come into New Zealand. They think of the people who come into our country on a yearly basis. This bill does not deal with that issue as such. The nature of who comes into New Zealand is outside of this legislation. This bill sets the procedures of how our immigration system works. When New Zealanders hear us talking about the Immigration Bill they actually think it sets out how many people come into our country each year who those people are and what their country of origin is. The reality is that the public perceptions of what immigration is about are quite different from what we are talking about here tonight. This bill is about the structure of how our immigration system operates. It is about some of our border issues. It is about the nature of the review process and our visa system. It is much more about the procedural aspect of immigration than the practical aspect that individuals in our community will identify with when we talk about immigration. 
I think National and Labour will come together on this bill because the parties have a common approach to immigration in that we see the benefit of it for our communities and our country. The Green Party will probably provide the most different point of view on the legislation. The Greens did that in the select committee. Although it may not necessarily be in the best interests of New Zealand to follow what the Green Party is proposing it is an important part of the process of coming to the conclusions we do in this bill to have that voice advocated in the committee and in the Chamber. Its view may not reflect the end result that would be practical for New Zealand but it is something that adds value to the final result we get. I encourage Keith to stand up and say what he thinks. I know that he will be representing some people who made some submissions in regard to this bill— 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Go easy! 
DAVID BENNETT 
: Yes well even though that idealism may not reflect what a country would endeavour to do in practical terms it may well have a value in theoretical terms. We congratulate the Green Party on putting its view forward. 
We will see a good bill come out of this session. It will be a bill that sets up a procedure going forward for New Zealand immigration that will be in the best interests of all New Zealanders. It is one of those things where we never get a final result that is perfect. It is a bit like the tax bill that we have just debated. It is an area that is so big and that has so much complexity that we cannot cover it all off in one bill and think it will be done for ever and a day. It is something that will develop and will change over time. We look forward to this bill progressing.