Carter Chris: Immigration Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Carter Chris: Immigration Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:611;Page:8200] 
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Conservation) 
 on behalf of the  
Minister of Immigration 
: I move  
That the Immigration Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. I commend the select committee to the House for the excellent work it has undertaken in considering the Immigration Amendment Bill. Of particular note is the select committee’s work in addressing all the concerns raised in the submissions. The bill makes a number of changes to the Immigration Act to establish a more flexible legislative framework for the Government’s residence policy to enable the active recruitment of migrants and more effective management of residence applications. The bill gives effect to the Government’s desire to see New Zealand shift from being a passive recipient of skilled migrants to being a country that assesses what its needs are and goes out to the world actively recruiting and inviting skilled migrants to meet those needs. 
The bill amends the Immigration Act in three broad areas. Firstly it enables the Government’s residence policy to provide that certain applications for residence can be made only following invitation to apply for residence. Secondly it establishes new appeal procedures in respect of residence decisions. The Residence Review Board will replace the Residence Appeal Authority and there will be no rights of appeal or review where a person is not invited to apply for residence. Finally it provides for the future lapsing of immigration applications including expressions of interest in residence. That power will be used as part of the management of future flows of applications to ensure that the number of places available under the Government’s annual immigration programme is not exceeded. 
The select committee received 31 public submissions 15 of which involved oral submissions. A number of submissions expressed overall support for the general intent and direction of the proposed amendments with particular support coming from business and industry groups and an organisation representing immigration consultants. Business New Zealand supports the concept of expressions of interest followed by invitations to apply for residence. It sees that process as providing greater certainty and a more streamlined approach that will advantage those individuals that New Zealand needs. 
The Council of Trade Unions supports the objectives of the bill and notes that it will allow a clearer matching of skill requirements in the economy and migrants. Similarly the New Zealand Immigration Institute noted that it supports the intent of the bill as it is designed to ensure that New Zealand selects migrants who will benefit this country. The Industry Training Federation supports the objectives of the bill and recommends that it proceed. It believes that the changes will benefit industries in addressing skill shortages. Venture Southland considers that the bill provides a positive foundation for the recruitment of skilled migrants. 
In clause 5 the words “or any aspect of the processing of a visa application” have been deleted. That change is made in response to issues raised by the Human Rights Commission. Clause 8 has been amended to clarify that any decision to lapse an application must be made in accordance with the rules and criteria applicable at the time the application was made. Clause 13 deals with appeals to the board against refusal of residence visa or permit. Clauses 13(2) 13(3) and 13(4) have been deleted having the effect of removing the proposed restriction on appeals to the Residence Review Board for residence applications that are off shore. 
The issues around restricting appeal rights on the basis of connection to New Zealand are finally balanced. On the one hand it is questionable whether people who have never been to New Zealand and who have no or few ties here should have any appeal rights. On the other hand the Government acknowledges the concerns raised about the need to provide an independent review of all declined residence decisions in order to prevent the perception of unfettered decision-making by individual visa officers off shore. It is clear that many submitters considered that the current Residence Appeal Authority process places an important check on the Immigration Service’s use of power. To alleviate concerns and as part of the initial implementation of the new residence framework the current rights of appeal for persons declined a visa or permit have been retained. 
Concerns were raised by various submitters including the Auckland District Law Society and the Council of Trade Unions about how discretion will be applied and how transparent the policy will be. Under the new skilled migrant category there will be clear criteria for expressions of interest with certain prerequisites that must be met. These include employability and capacity-building which will be assessed using a points system. Those who rank the highest will be invited to apply for residence. 
The use of the word “discretion” to describe the process of issuing an invitation to apply is consistent with the nature of other immigration-making—that is residents in temporary entry. It is consistent with the general framework of the Immigration Act. The exercise of discretion is qualified by Government residence policy. Rules and criteria concerning the issue of an invitation to apply will be set out in Government residence policy. 
Finally I wish to read an email that the Minister of Immigration the Hon Lianne Dalziel received after the policy was announced. It says it all. “I own an IT recruitment agency. My team and I see the issues of migrants on a daily basis. I personally have worked with many immigrants. In my first year in New Zealand I secured positions for 61 IT professionals who were overseas and then proceeded to help them and their families migrate to New Zealand. I really do understand how important the right immigration policy is to our local economy. I wholeheartedly believe that your changes will have a very positive impact on our employment market. I do believe that many of the people raising their eyebrows in the last week”—when this email was written—“have no concept of how difficult it is for many immigrants who either don’t have the level of English required to survive a Kiwi workplace or the skills we need to keep our economy alive. I sincerely hope that the media will hold their breath and watch the results of your policy change. In the interim my thanks and support go to you.” 
That was from a new migrant to New Zealand and sent to the Minister of Immigration. That is why the Immigration Amendment Bill is so important to skilled migrants and to New Zealand. I commend this bill to the House. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Before I call the next member I want to say that as a result of the Business Committee discussion and my own assessment I now have the order of calls that I am going to give in first second and third reading debates and other set debates limited to 2 hours. If members want to come up and have a look at that they can. The bottom sentence is important as all calls are tradable of course. Parties do not have to take a call if they do not wish to do so.