Jones Dail: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Jones Dail: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:611;Page:8399] 
9.  
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Immigration 
: What does she intend to do about non - New Zealand pregnant women coming to New Zealand to give birth so that their children can claim New Zealand citizenship? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Immigration) 
: 
 Current visitor policy prohibits visitors from travelling to New Zealand to seek obstetric treatment including any medical or midwifery services in connection with a pregnancy or the birth of a child. People who enter New Zealand as visitors with the intention of giving birth in New Zealand are in breach of their conditions of entry. It appears that problems have arisen from countries that are visa-free and therefore the New Zealand Immigration Service is looking at ways of improving compliance with current policy. 
Dail Jones 
: In view of the fact that newspaper reports indicate that some 1300 women have come here from overseas—and that shows a great failure on the part of her department—what does she specifically intend to do to revise the visitor category so that situations such as the one at North Shore Hospital do not recur. As recently as a week or two ago Brigid Maire had to leave that hospital at 4.20 a.m. with her 2-hour-old baby because there were not enough beds at the hospital—primarily because of all these overseas women coming here to have their children. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: My advice is that people have been coming here from overseas for the purpose of giving birth for a number of years but that the practice increased as a result of changes to the provision of service in 1999 under the previous National Government. The decision was made to give those people access to funding for free maternity care while in New Zealand and to get rid of bad debts. That was seen as an advantage to the child who would become a New Zealand citizen. I think that is the real issue. 
Dail Jones 
: Does the Minister realise that New Zealand First is not interested in what the failed National Government of 1999 did and has as much interest in that as it has in the failed policies of this Labour Party; and does she consider it just and fair on other immigrants who must go through the application process to live in New Zealand for overseas mothers to come here deliberately to give birth to a child and therefore claim citizenship for that child; and what will she actually do about this problem? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The Minister will answer the question asked not the supplementary information at the start. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: I was looking forward to answering that. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Well the Minister is not going to today. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The issue with regard to what we are doing today is that we have sent a letter to the couple who have identified themselves in the media as having deliberately come to New Zealand for the purpose of having children. That letter informs them that that is a breach of their conditions of entry and advises them than an alert will be placed on their travel documents. They will require a visa to travel to New Zealand again even though they now come from a visa-free country. That visa will probably be declined.