Bennett David: Immigration Advisers Licensing Bill — In Committee 
Bennett David: Immigration Advisers Licensing Bill — In Committee 
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DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 I would just like to thank the Hon Mark Gosche for his great work in being our Transport and Industrial Relations Committee chairman during this process. Unfortunately he did not get the call then but he has been a very good leader of our select committee and it is a pleasure working with him on that select committee. I also thank the officials who are here today. We went through a few technical issues during the process and the officials were very helpful. They always researched what we wanted to find out and came back with very good results. So I would give a pat on the back to our officials who did an excellent job in this case. 
However a major cross has to go against the Government again. Once again we see a Government that changes its mind at the last minute and that goes to the public saying one thing and then does another in this Parliament. It is a Government that does not care what New Zealanders think expect or want. It is a Government that does what it wants to do under cover of night at 9.30 o’clock on a Tuesday night. This Government does not look forward and deliver for the people. We have heard that this is a technical amendment—that is what the Government says it is. It says that it is OK to do a technical amendment at the last minute. 
Then there has been the sort of Treasury-Cabinet cost recovery model which the Government says is the only one we can go for; but in saying that we can only go for a cost recovery model the Government is denying what it is actually doing in this legislation by putting this Supplementary Order Paper forward. In the Supplementary Order Paper the Government is adding another layer on top of that cost recovery. It is making a second charge on immigration consultants—a second charge that will put many immigration consultants out of business. A lot of small businesses will go out of business. It is the same as what happened in Australia and it is what will happen in New Zealand through this clandestine approach taken by the Government to change things on a whim under clouds of darkness. 
I would also say to the Maori Party that it is such a shame to see a financial veto used at this time. Those members came in with genuine amendments that they had put forward and to get at them the Minister of Finance came through with a shadowy shameful veto of a financial nature at this stage. The Government did that because it has no provision in the Budget. Well the Government has enough money in that Budget to sink a ship! They will go out there and buy as many votes as they can over the next 2 years but no they will not look after Maoridom—no they will not do that. They have bigger priorities than that have they not? That is what this Government is about. It is just about saving its soul; it is not about doing what is right for New Zealanders. 
This Immigration Advisers Licensing Bill had the ability to set up something great for New Zealand. New Zealand is in a region that is growing at enormous rates. We are probably the slowest-growing of the countries in this region—in fact we are. If we look at our major trading partners in this region—for instance Australia China and India—they all have much faster growth rates than us. 
Darien Fenton 
: They’ve got more people. 
DAVID BENNETT 
: That is the key thing. New Zealand will have a greater population over time and our population will come from that region. The longer we deny that fact the longer we will sit here at low growth rates and the longer we will have the situation where we are out of kilter with our neighbours and with our region. In time we will pay the price for that. We cannot insulate New Zealand and then think that it will change and that our growth at 1 percent or 2 percent will be sufficient. Our neighbours are growing at 8 to 9 percent. They have huge populations. New Zealanders need to be competitive in that model and under this Government we simply are not. 
This bill would have given New Zealanders the ability to bring in more people who were specialists and who really wanted to work hard and to build this country. They will come anyway. We had the chance to choose when they came and how they came and we have denied ourselves that by putting more and more fees into the system and by shunting those people who are doing the immigration consulting advice to the bottom of the heap. 
 We are killing off an industry that had the potential to grow our country an industry that would have picked the best people from our region at a time when we need to do that. In 10 years’ time it will be too late. The best people in our region will not be coming to this country. They will be going around the world to where they can get the highest incomes. This bill could have given us the chance to go out and target those people now—to actually go out there and make the best for New Zealand. But no we have denied ourselves that by putting on another level of fees and really crucifying an industry that had the potential to grow our country.