Minister up to Trickery on Foreign Students Working in NZ

new-zealand-first-party

Thu Mar 31 2016 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Minister up to Trickery on Foreign Students Working in NZ

Thursday, 31 March 2016, 9:57 am
Press Release: New Zealand First Party

Ron Mark MP
New Zealand First Deputy Leader
31 MARCH 2016

The government is attempting to hoodwink New Zealand on the massive number of unskilled foreign students working here, says New Zealand First Deputy Leader Ron Mark.

“Minister of Immigration Michael Woodhouse claimed in Parliament yesterday that only one in four foreign students take up work visas. That is incorrect. In fact, nearly two thirds come on work visas and the number is growing.

“In 2015, 66,702 had work visas of the 105,314 coming on student visas.

“We do not know how many of the others actually work, without applying for the work rights. We only need look at service stations, supermarkets and hotels to see how many foreign workers are here while 70,000 young Kiwis are without a job.

“The Minister deliberately misled Parliament in an attempt to play down the impact of thousands of foreign students taking over so many jobs in the low skilled sector.

“The Minister admitted that the right to work is a marketing tool for the education sector, proving that it is not in fact such a classy export earner as the government attempts to portray.

“The fact is many students are paying their way with dollars earned here, rather than foreign currency.

“The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has warned the government in a briefing paper that it is concerned about the level of unskilled migrants, but the government is ignoring this advice.”

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from New Zealand First Party on InfoPages.