Mark Ron: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMark Ron: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 30 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:10011. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.RON MARK (Deputy Leader—NZ First) to the Minister of Immigration: Does he stand by the Prime Minister’s statement “We welcome migrants who can make a contribution to New Zealand.”?Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (Minister of Immigration): Yes I stand by the full statement of that speech which was “We welcome migrants who can make a contribution to New Zealand and we value the benefit and opportunities that free trade agreements can deliver. … I back our farmers our manufacturers our ICT companies and in fact all our exporters to succeed. Our view of New Zealand is a positive confident country that is well connected with the rest of the world including our neighbours in the Asia Pacific region.”Ron Mark: How can he stand by such a statement when Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment briefing documents raise concerns about the number of low-skilled migrant workers at a time when there are more and more unskilled foreign students working here?Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Well the international education industry is now our second-largest service export earner. It generates about $3 billion I think and employs nearly 30000 people directly or indirectly. One of the attractions to that is the fact that the students themselves can work for a small amount of time while they study. It is a very good marketing tool. Only about one in four takes it up but I think it is an excellent strategy.Ron Mark: How does he think it is fair or even sensible that almost 67000 foreign students with no work skills are allowed to work in this country while over 70000 young Kiwis cannot get a job?Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Well I do not accept that international students have no work skills any more than domestic students have no work skills. All students from time to time work part-time to augment their income in hospitality in tourism industries in horticulture and so on. As far as young unemployed New Zealanders are concerned there are definitely challenges in getting them into work but the Minister for Social Development the Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment and I are working together to ensure that Kiwis are at the front of the queue and that immigration policy is at the end of the pipeline.Ron Mark: Does he agree with the Minister of Finance that “the inflow of migrants is driven by students” and he goes on to say “that requires high levels of skill to grow”; if so how does he reconcile that statement with the fact that the majority of international students are not actually in universities but in polytechnics?Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: I have not seen the quote the member is referring to but what I do know is that the migration trend is driven by international students it is driven by working holidaymakers it is driven by skilled workers we need to help things like the rebuild of Canterbury and it is driven by our Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme policies which are helping with the harvest in one of the fastest-growing industries in this country. It is a demand-driven immigration policy and higher migration is a sign of success not failure.Ron Mark: Why when Treasury—Treasury—and the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment are concerned and are expressing that concern in written reports about the number of low-skilled migrants and when the OECD has described the inflow as “unmanaged” will this Government not change its policy settings on migration?Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: To the second part of the question the answer is no. I believe that we have the policy settings right to respond to demand in a growing economy. As far as the lower-skilled worker trend is concerned there is a very high labour need in many of those industries and if that member wants to go into the Western Bay of Plenty into Nelson-Marlborough into those places and say they would stop migration—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is just no point in carrying on with an answer when the member does not want to listen to the answer.