Hardening attitudes
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Hardening attitudes towards non-whites
There was some disturbing news for the 170,000-odd Pacific Island com munity in New Zealand in a recent nation-wide opinion poll.
It showed, in the words of the weekly National Business Review, which commis sioned the survey by the UMR-Insight group of pollsters, that xenophobia is alive and well in this country and old-fashioned ‘white New Zealand’ attitudes are far from dead.
The poll revealed that 57 per cent of adult New Zealanders think there are too many Pacific Island people living here.
Implicitly, a majority of kiwis want an end to immigration from the islands and from Asia.
The survey represents a hardening of New Zealanders’ attitudes over the last year towards foreigners, especially non whites, coming here to live. In 1994, a sim ilar poll showed 53 per cent of the public felt there were too many Pacific Island peo ple in New Zealand.
The biggest opposition to island immi grants was from retired people (64 per cent), who probably hanker after the days when New Zealand was another little Britain in the South Seas and even those bom here used to refer to the old country as “home”.
Not far behind were those on the lowest incomes (62 per cent), earning $15,000 or less a year, who no doubt see island people as a threat to their jobs.
Opposition to island immigrants was not as high in the biggest cities, where the majority of island people live, as in provin cial New Zealand where there are very few migrant settlers.
But the picture is probably not as bleak for the Pacific Island communities as it appears on the face of it. There is little doubt they are suffering a backlash against Asian immigration, which has risen sharply in recent years.
Western Samoans, the largest island group in New Zealand, making up 53 per cent of the Pacific Island population, fig ured only in seventh place in the list of countries supplying the largest number of immigrants in the 12 months to June 1995.
The 1518 immigrants from Western Samoa were well out-numbered by new comers from Taiwan (7470), Britain (7171), China (5181), South Korea (5027) and nearly 3000 each from Hong Kong,
India and South Africa.
The poll also reflected rising resentment against the growing number of immigrants from all sources at a time when unemploy ment remains high.
More than 22,700 newcomers arrived here to settle in the last June year - the biggest number in 20 years and well up on the 16,820 arrivals during the previous 12 months.
The survey repre sents a hardening of New Zealanders’ attitudes over the last year towards foreigners, especially non-whites, com ing here to live.
It was well within the government’s annual target of 25,000, but early last year approvals were running at a level that, if unchecked, would have seen the annual population increase to 40,000 to 50,000.
Concerned about mounting pressure the influx was imposing on schools, medical services and other infrastructure, especially in Auckland (the most attractive city for both Pacific Island and Asian immigrants), the government moved last July to cut the target severely to 10,000.
No more than this number will be approved in the year ending June 30, 1996.
The limit will be maintained by tightening the points system under which prospective migrants are evaluated. The criteria is now much tougher, though skilled trades people with jobs to come to will find it easier to qualify. Doctors, dentists, veterinarians and other professionals, on the other hand, now need to be registered for practice in New Zealand before they get points for their qualifications.
But in a move that drew claims of racism from critics, the government intro duced a 2 hour-45minute English language test that is specifically aimed at Asian
immigrants but could also affect some Pacific Island people.
Applicants will have to demonstrate that they have at least a part command of English and can cope well with overall meanings in most situations.
Accompanying family members over 16 can still obtain residency if they fail the test by paying a $20,000 fee. This is fully refunded if they meet the standard within three months and $14,000 will be returned if they pass the test inside a year.
Immigration Minister Roger Maxwell said the new regulations were brought in because New Zealand’s “tolerance and acceptance of new immigrants without some disruption or adverse reaction had reached its optimum level”.
He admitted that New Zealanders’ reac tion to the soaring Asian immigration was the main factor behind the changes.
The government also moved to toughen the rules covering business immigrants bringing investments into the country.
This followed concern at a significant number of Asian migrants who had brought their families to New Zealand, but contin ued to live overseas themselves and had not fulfilled pledges to set up businesses here.
Immigrants (mainly from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea) brought in $1.06 billion in the first three years after the investment policies were introduced in November 1991, but the government was concerned that much of the money was simply put on deposit and not used to gen erate business and employment growth.
The points system was amended to favour active investments of $750,000 to $1.75 million, redefining “investment” as ownership of at least 25 per cent of a com pany.
The changes. Maxwell said, were
designed to require business immigrants to
make more of a commitment to New Zealand.
There is little doubt of the commitment of Pacific Islanders. Apart from Fijians and Tongans, the majority of islanders living in New Zealand are not immigrants but were actually bom here.
About half are under 20, a fact that sure ly removes them from the immigrant cate gory. It is a pity that the runaway growth in the numbers of Asian newcomers has refu elled pakeha fears about Polynesian immi
gration. ■