Brown Peter: Immigration Advisers Licensing Bill — First Reading 
Brown Peter: Immigration Advisers Licensing Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:628;Page:1005] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 I first would like to comment on some of the points made by the Hon Lianne Dalziel. She said that immigration in this country had improved because the Labour Government was doing this and that. In fact it has improved to some degree over what it was when Labour came into power—I recognise that—but it has very little to do with the Labour Government. From New Zealand First’s point of view it was like pulling teeth. More particularly from Winston Peters’ point of view it was like pulling teeth. The Government would not have done a single thing. It was quite happy with open-door immigration. Whoever wanted to come here could come here and stay here. It was not worried about overstayers the English test or a darn thing until New Zealand First and principally Winston Peters highlighted the issues. There is a long way to go. 
The previous Minister the Hon Paul Swain only a little while ago when he was talking to a group of professionals described the immigration legislation in this country as a “dog’s breakfast”. I do not want to go back to the Veterinarians Bill because we had enough of that last night but I can tell members that in those two words the honourable previous Minister made it quite clear what he thought of the current immigration laws. Just to reinforce that let me read the extract from the enhanced confidence and supply agreement with New Zealand First: “Immigration: conduct a full review of immigration legislation and administrative practices within the immigration service to ensure the system meets the needs of New Zealand in the 21st century and has appropriate mechanisms for ensuring the system is not susceptible to fraud or other abuse and taking note of other items raised by New Zealand First.” I was there when that clause was presented to Labour. Helen Clark and Dr Cullen could not sign it quickly enough. They said “Yes Winston yes Peter you’re absolutely right. We want to tidy up the Act.” 
New Zealand is a fantastically beautiful country. It is filled in large measure with hard-working people. There are some exceptions and some of those sit across the Chamber. Tau Henare is one of them. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Waka jumper! 
PETER BROWN 
: He is a waka jumper. He has been in five political parties. Sorry he has been in four because one was a sham. 
Hon Member 
: He has sat in every seat in the House. 
PETER BROWN 
: He has including one outside. This is a fantastic country. It is filled in large measure with hard-working people. Another asset this country has—and on a worldwide basis this is being recognised more and more—is that there are not too many of us. That is a huge asset for this country. If members do not believe me they should look at the people who come here because they want to get away from where they have been or where they live right now. We must put a value on the low population. Of course we need immigrants. 
Hon David Carter 
: More people like the member! 
PETER BROWN 
: Exactly like the member. Immigrants should come here and offer the country a skill. That is the first priority. They must have good health. They should be crime free and remain crime free. They should be able to speak English and they should be prepared to integrate into New Zealand society. 
The Immigration Advisers Licensing Bill is about the gatekeepers for a system that is letting people in. It is absolutely imperative if we want desirable people to come here who will make a contribution that the gatekeepers—the immigration consultants or advisers—are top-notch people also. We can do this only by regulation. New Zealand First has been an advocate for this sort of legislation for many a year. It is sad that it has taken the Labour Government 6 years or so to even get round to it. I heard the Hon Dr Lockwood Smith say that this could lead to too much bureaucracy. He may have a point there. But I say to National Party members that New Zealand First would prefer there to be too much bureaucracy than too many undesirables coming here. 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: And too much corruption. 
PETER BROWN 
: And too much corruption as the honourable member said. This is a very important bill. It makes up a very small part of the confidence and supply agreement but it is a move in the right direction. There are some aspects of the bill that concern me on first reading. It basically states that people will be prohibited from being licensed. We agree with everything that is in here but we also think it could be a little bit more stringent in this regard. What about the people who are prone to having violent outbursts? If they have a criminal sentence they are barred from being a practitioner. But what about the people who are prone to violence? Will we allow those sorts of people to become immigration advisers? 
I will touch on just a couple of things that concern me on the surface. A register of licensed advisers will be kept by the registrar. The bill refers to the data that the registrar is going to keep on the database but there is no reference to the fees or the methods of payment etc. I believe that immigrants—who tend to feel quite vulnerable coming to a new county—should be advised on not only who is a suitable immigration consultant or adviser to speak to and refer problems to but also on the level of fees or payments that are reasonably acceptable. We know from information given to us that some huge amounts of money are passing over from various hands to come into this country. It is huge money. One has to ask whether it is fairly earned because New Zealand First has real concerns about how some people pay for the services of an immigration adviser. 
I will conclude by saying that immigration is a problem area not only for this country but also on a worldwide basis. It is an area that New Zealand First has endeavoured to highlight for now many a year and we are not going to let go of the issue. We will keep on keeping on until we have an immigration policy and immigration legislation that actually reflects the needs of the people of this country. New Zealanders are warm-hearted people who give a welcome to most people who come to these shores. They are entitled to know that the system protects them from undesirables from criminals and from people who have exceedingly bad health or who just want to rip off the country. This is the first step forward. We look forward to working with the Labour Party over the next 3 years under our confidence and supply agreement and tidying up many if not all of the immigration problems that we have.