More knee-jerk immigration policy

new-zealand-national-party

Mon Apr 07 2003 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

More knee-jerk immigration policy

Monday, 7 April 2003, 6:24 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

The Government's latest change in rules for foreign students is another knee-jerk reaction, says National MP Pansy Wong.

"The Government has been embarrassed by pictures of students queuing overnight to renew their visas, so after two weeks of pressure their solution is to scrap the same-day visa service.

"Students will now have to hand over their passports and wait for five weeks to renew their visas. It's clear that spin and damage control is more important to this Government than actually improving the system for foreign students.

"It follows the pattern set many times by this Government, particularly the Minister of Immigration. When a problem emerges they blame the people with the problem, then try and cover it up without actually fixing anything.

"It's the same tactic used in health, where the Government has re-defined waiting lists in order to cut their numbers.

"It's no wonder immigration is in such a shambles when all the Minister cares about is avoiding embarrassing pictures and headlines," said Ms Wong.

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