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The immigration policy review, 1986: a review ( New Zealand).
Abstract
The Review of Immigration Policy, August 1986 is the first substantive statement on a wide range of aspects of immigration policy by a New Zealand Government since 1974 when major changes were made to the conditions governing permanent entry to the country. Several important departures from previous immigration policy are outlined. -from Authors
... It laid the foundation for major changes in the 1987 Immigration Act and is the introduction of a new immigration policy that removed the long-established source country preference (i.e. Great Britain) and started to select immigrants based on their financial and human capital (Bedford et al., 1987). This immigration policy change was a part of the Fourth Labour Government's effort to embark on a radical path of economic de-regulation to revitalise the economy (Trlin, 1992). ...
A neoliberal immigration regime often takes an “economic” lens to frame and reframe immigration regulation based on a rational cost–benefit analysis of what immigration might bring to immigration-receiving countries. Under such a regime, skilled and business immigration is framed as an “economic” immigration category, which can channel in financial and human capital, while family and international humanitarian immigration is regarded as a “social” immigration category assumed to produce immigrants who are more dependent and not able to bring immediate and direct economic gain for immigrant-receiving countries. In New Zealand (NZ), such a neoliberal trend is very much alive within its contemporary immigration policy development. The paper aims to illustrate the neoliberal trend of NZ immigration policy that relates to the entry of immigrants’ family members, especially the older parents. In order to achieve this goal, a detailed review of the evolving NZ family immigration policy over the last three decades and a descriptive analysis of NZ family immigration intake will be presented. By combining the policy review and descriptive analysis together, the paper can inform a better understanding of how the neoliberal immigration regime has had an impact on the patterns of family immigration in NZ.
... It laid the foundation for major changes in the 1987 Immigration Act and is the introduction of a new immigration policy that removed the long-established source country preference (i.e. Great Britain) and started to select immigrants based on their financial and human capital (Bedford et al., 1987). This immigration policy change was a part of the Fourth Labour Government's effort to embark on a radical path of economic de-regulation to revitalise the economy (Trlin, 1992). ...
A neoliberal immigration regime often takes an “economic” lens to frame and reframe immigration regulation based on a rational cost–benefit analysis of what immigration might bring to immigration-receiving countries. Under such a regime, skilled and business immigration is framed as an “economic” immigration category, which can channel in financial and human capital, while family and international humanitarian immigration is regarded as a “social” immigration category assumed to produce immigrants who are more dependent and not able to bring immediate and direct economic gain for immigrant-receiving countries. In New Zealand (NZ), such a neoliberal trend is very much alive within its contemporary immigration policy development. The paper aims to illustrate the neoliberal trend of NZ immigration policy that relates to the entry of immigrants’ family members, especially the older parents. In order to achieve this goal, a detailed review of the evolving NZ family immigration policy over the last three decades and a descriptive analysis of NZ family immigration intake will be presented. By combining the policy review and descriptive analysis together, the paper can inform a better understanding of how the neoliberal immigration regime has had an impact on the patterns of family immigration in NZ.
... The Immigration Policy Review 1986 made by the Labour Government's 1 Minister of Immigration was perhaps one of the most significant immigration policy reviews in New Zealand during the twentieth century. It laid the foundation for major changes in the 1987 Immigration Act and is the introduction of a new immigration policy that removed the long-established source country preference (i.e., Great Britain) and started to select immigrants based on their financial and human capital (Bedford et al., 1987). This immigration policy change was a part of the Fourth Labour Government's effort to embark on a radical path of economic de-regulation to revitalise the economy (Trlin, 1992). ...
... It transformed New Zealand's immigration system fundamentally from one based on a racial preference of the traditional immigrant source countries (i.e. Great Britain) to a point-based system which selects immigrants based on their skills and financial well-being (Bedford et al., 1987). This immigration policy change was a part of the Fourth Labour Government's effort to embark on a radical path of economic de-regulation to revitalise the economy . ...
The Immigration Act 1987 fundamentally transformed New Zealand's immigration policy from one that was race-based to one based on economic needs of New Zealand society. It opened the borders to immigrants from much wider regions. As a result of this "open-door" immigration policy, a substantial new Chinese immigrant community from the People's Republic of China (PRC) was established in New Zealand. Building a closely-tied multigenerational family is an important feature of family life for this immigrant group. Often, multiple generations live together or within close proximity with one another in highly interdependent relationships. However, a growing number have also started to maintain their family lives transnationally, with different family members across generations living apart but maintaining close ties, with frequent interactions across national borders. Given this transnational family arrangement is very different from Chinese traditional practices of family maintenance, the impact of this change on the wellbeing and functioning of these families and their individual family members is an issue of increasing academic interest. This thesis responds to these concerns and explores the relationship between people's experiences of transnational migration and their multigenerational family dynamics. Through engaging with individual life stories and perspectives of 45 participants across generations from new PRC immigrant families living in New Zealand, this thesis seeks to understand how those families with closely-tied multiple generations cope with dislocation and relocation during the process of transnational migration. It also investigates how transnational migration experiences contribute to new emergent domestic dynamics, including the development of new strategies and practices to PAGE | II maintain family traditions, interests and coherence across national borders, as well as shifting intergenerational relationships. The empirical data demonstrates that despite the increasing proportion of new PRC families living transnationally, their experiences of managing family lives vary. I argue that this diversification of transnational family experiences is largely attributed to the interaction of various impact factors associated with both the internal dynamics of immigrant families themselves and external contexts where those families are closely related. My research also attests that family members' transnational migration experiences accelerate changes to the way they perform family life, particularly amplifying intergenerational differences and altering intergenerational dependency. Even though those changes introduce vital challenges towards multigenerational family maintenance and coherence, my research reveals that families are resilient and able to actively forge multistranded resources as well as engage various transnational activities in response to those challenges. While this thesis poses intriguing perspectives and culturally-specific scenarios to study immigrant families in New Zealand society, more importantly, it also contributes to the broad theorisation of transnational family formation and maintenance in the increasingly globalised world.
... It laid the foundation for major changes in the 1987 Immigration Act, which introduced an open-door immigration policy to welcome immigrants with financial and human capital (see Table 3.2 for detailed information about some significant immigration policy changes). It fundamentally transformed New Zealand's immigration system from one based on racial preference of the traditional immigrant source countries to a point-based system which selects immigrants based on their skills and financial well-being (Bedford, Farmer, & Trlin, 1987). This immigration policy change was a part of the Fourth Labour government's effort to embark on a radical path of economic deregulation to revitalise the economy (Trlin, 1992). ...
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has remained the second-largest source for residence approvals in New Zealand since 1997. This chapter will provide an overview of this new Chinese immigration flow and its engendered return and re-migration patterns. It will contextualize the new wave of PRC immigration against the background of New Zealand’s changing immigration policy after 1986 and China’s economic and social transformation. It will focus on examining the immigration pathways of the PRC migrants, their general profile and settlement, indicated by participation in the labour market, and their transitional migratory mobility, a theme of research on new Chinese immigration everywhere. The chapter will conclude with a discussion of how new Chinese migrants are perceived by the host society, especially the indigenous Maoris.
... It laid the foundation for major changes in the 1987 Immigration Act, which introduced an open-door immigration policy to welcome immigrants with financial and human capital (see Table 3.2 for detailed information about some significant immigration policy changes). It fundamentally transformed New Zealand's immigration system from one based on racial preference of the traditional immigrant source countries to a point-based system which selects immigrants based on their skills and financial well-being (Bedford, Farmer, & Trlin, 1987). This immigration policy change was a part of the Fourth Labour government's effort to embark on a radical path of economic deregulation to revitalise the economy (Trlin, 1992). ...
New Zealand's immigration policies and trends since 1945 are compared with those of Canada and Australia. For most of this period, Australia has pursued the more expansive immigration policy while Canada and New Zealand have tended to link immigration intakes to fluctuations in labor demand. All three countries initially discriminated against non-European immigrants but gradually moved towards nondiscriminatory policies based on similar selection criteria and means of assessment. New Zealand has traditionally been more cautious than both Canada and Australia in terms of how many immigrants it accepted and from what sources, but it has recently followed the other two in raising immigration targets and encouraging migration from nontraditional sources, particularly Asian countries. Historical, global and national factors are drawn upon to explain the degree of convergence between these three societies.
Following the coups of 1987, there was a notable increase in the volume of emigration from Fiji. Although the actual migration loss may not have reached the pessimistic levels of some commentators, it has exceeded the official emigration figures and perhaps around 30 000 people have left in the two years following the first coup. New Zealand has become an important destination and this has been aided by changes in immigration policy. Most of those allowed to stay in New Zealand have had skills or capital, or were able to use family contacts. However, it seems as if it was not New Zealand but Canada and, possibly, Australia that have become the main new homes for departing Fiji citizens. -Author
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