Woodhouse Michael: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWoodhouse Michael: General Debate[Sitting date: 29 July 2015. Volume:707;Page:5434. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (Minister of Immigration): What was interesting about Amy Adams’ speech was that the most animated that Labour members have been all week was when she described them as grumpy. The faux laughter that came from Mr Mallard and the people around him was incredibly interesting. I think that Mrs Adams rather undersold the point. In fact calling Labour members grumpy now is a bit like calling Donald Trump a little bit right wing. They are absolutely grumpy. Why? Well there is a good reason. Firstly they do not like each other. I cannot imagine what the caucus room must have been like yesterday. Secondly they—Hon Member: Labour doesn’t like migrants.Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Well we will get to migrants in a minute. Secondly Labour members do not agree on anything. Their caucus is split on whether it wants free trade. Labour wanted free trade a few years ago; half of them do not want it now. They cannot even agree what their policy on a flag referendum is. The ultimate is the issue of whether or not they like foreigners. Mr Twyford has to be National’s secret weapon. My late mother’s maiden name was Lyng.Hon Member: Ni hao.Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Ni hao—well not quite because it is actually Kilkenny Irish of Scandinavian origin. But you can bet your bottom dollar that that name would have been on the Barfoot and Thompson list when it was produced a couple of months ago.I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the National Party’s annual conference in Auckland on the weekend. One of the happiest bunch of people of the nearly 700 people who registered and attended who were smiling and who were motivated by policy break outs—do you know who the happiest were? Our Asian members. They knew that they were wanted. They knew that they were appreciated. They knew that this party understands the important contribution that they have made to New Zealand over many generations. That has not changed and it will not change in the future. So as Minister of Immigration it was a great privilege for me to stand beside the Prime Minister after the announcement on what I believe are excellent excellent policies to improve immigration and migration around this country.I just want to touch on those policies. We have a number of policies that reflect extra incentives for people to migrate into the regions and they are going to be beefed up. The skilled migrant points are going to be tripled for a job outside Auckland. Entrepreneur visas where businesses are being set up outside Auckland will have double the points allocated to them than at present. The labour market test that we have introduced into Queenstown is going to be put around the country because actually it makes sense for that process to be streamlined. Above all I think the one policy that has certainly got my colleagues in the South Island most excited is the growing number of temporary migrants who have been here for a long time but who presently actually have no pathway to residence. Across the South Island almost all of my colleagues have been advocating for our farm workers freezing workers and aged-care workers who are making fantastic contributions to that growing economy and indeed through that are creating more jobs for New Zealanders. We think that that needs some kind of recognition and acknowledgment. If they have been here for 5 years or more—5 successive years—and they are prepared to continue to keep their roots in those regions after residency is granted we say: “Why not?”. We say: “What a fantastic contribution they have made.”The one thing that Labour members could say about those policies was that they had the same policies. Well I can tell you that Labour is so confused about immigration policy that it does not know the difference between net migration and immigration. Labour’s policy last year did have that; I will grant them that. But it also had that they were going to smooth out the positive net migration. Who is causing that net migration? Backpackers in Queenstown and students in the private training establishments in Auckland. It has nothing to do with the people we really need. What will Labour members do in response to the growing number of working holidaymakers? Stop skilled migrants coming in. Labour members were not going to rule out refugees and they were not going to rule out the Pacific quota. Goodness me they did not say it but I do not know how they would have worked with partnerships—the spouses and the children of people coming home. They were not going to rule them out. So the only thing that they could have done is rule out skills—the very skills that we need. This Government acknowledges that we need those skilled migrants. We need them in the regions. I think that we have announced a tremendous policy which has been supported emphatically by Mr Nashamong others. I think that he is a very wise man. That probably shows the wrong colours. I support these policies. I think they are a great move.