Migration

To sell the benefits of economic integration, free trade and the free flow of capital, New Zealand also needs to reaffirm its national identity.

It is breathtaking to watch how fast cornerstones of European integration are being undone as a result of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers entering the EU.

The refugee crisis could prove to be the EU’s make-or-break moment.

Ideally, a visa granted should benefit both the migrant and the recipient country – and neither party should have to pay for this win-win situation.

Migrants who bring their skills to this country, who are willing to make a contribution and ready to become a part of the community, are an asset. They will add strength and diversity to the country, and make it a better place – as generations of migrants have done before them.

Published in The National Business Review (Auckland), 23 May 2014 (PDF) Budget day last week was dominated by the usual focus on the return to surplus, some new spending pledges and discussions of potential future tax cuts. Soon afterward, however, commentators and politicians discovered the Treasury papers contained some political dynamite outside the core of fiscal […]

Far from demonising Chinese immigration in populist fear campaigns, New Zealand should be celebrating the opportunities and potential that Asian migrants bring to this country.

There is a paradox: New Zealand would welcome skilled migrants, and there are a growing number of mobile high-potentials. But these people are not coming to New Zealand and are moving elsewhere instead.