12. Question No. 12—ImmigrationSTUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura) to the Minister of ImmigrationQuestion No. 12—ImmigrationSTUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura): Thank you Mr Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Immigration. Can he confirm that the majority of applications for 13 out of 14 of the most common visa categories listed on the Immigration New Zealand website are currently being processed—SPEAKER: Order! I'm going to get the member to start again and read the question. 12. STUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura) to the Minister of Immigration: Can he confirm that the majority of the applications for 13 out of 14 of the visa categories listed on the Immigration New Zealand website are currently being processed slower than they were as at 1 November 2017 and does he expect delays to get worse in the near future? Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Minister of Immigration): Thank you very much Mr Speaker. In answer to the first part of the member's question yes. Visa processing times have consistently been getting worse year after year since 2014. Unlike the previous Government who let that happen unchecked I am taking this matter seriously. I raised it formally with the chief executive of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and the head of Immigration New Zealand back in May. They have been reporting to me every week on what Immigration New Zealand is doing to turn it around and what progress they are making on visa processing times. My expectations are clear that Immigration New Zealand should be fully focused on bringing processing times down and I'm pleased to say they're making good progress. In answer to the second part of the member's question timeliness in the future will of course be affected by volumes and right now more people are applying to come to New Zealand than ever before because of our strong economy and our welcoming community. Nevertheless I expect Immigration New Zealand to be fully focused on making timely decisions. Stuart Smith: When there was an $11.7 million funding boost to Immigration New Zealand for the sole purpose of improving visa processing times why is there still such a significant delay in visa processing times? Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: To put it shortly I inherited a mess and that is why this Government has invested so heavily in turning around the declining visa processing times that were occurring under the previous Government. So we've reversed some of the decisions that were made under National: the Henderson branch is staying open the Manila branch is staying open 177 additional staff have been employed and—as the member rightly points out—more money is going into Immigration New Zealand and I'm pleased to report that they are making good progress. Stuart Smith: Why did his office not respond to a request from me questioning inaccuracies in the data he provided me on visa processing times and then waited until it was in the media before correcting the information? Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Unfortunately Immigration New Zealand did provide me with inaccurate information and they have apologised—[Interruption] SPEAKER: Order! Order! This is quite a serious matter when a Minister has been provided with bad information and I think it ill behoves members to shout him down when he is trying to indicate what he did about it. Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: So Immigration New Zealand did unfortunately provide me with inaccurate information and they have apologised to me for doing so. I became aware that the information was inaccurate on Saturday afternoon. The information was corrected. Immigration staff rallied got themselves into the office on a Saturday and sorted out the mistake. However it being on the weekend and the fact that the question would not be able to be corrected in a formal sense until a working day I didn't see much point in getting parliamentary staff into work as well. Kieran McAnulty: What recent feedback has he received from business on visa processing? Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Well I have to say that if I'd been getting these questions 12 months or even six months ago I would have had to say the feedback was pretty negative. But actually as I've been going around the country I can report that the mood is improving. Just this morning—[Interruption] Members opposite will want to hear this. Just this morning Kirk Hope from Business New Zealand told me that efficient visa processing and access to skilled overseas workers is important to New Zealand businesses. While there is always room for improvement Business New Zealand is pleased with the reduction in essential skills visa processing and acknowledges Immigration New Zealand's engagement with our member organisations.