A group of young New Zealanders have written an open letter to the country’s immigration minister asking for end to “disastrous” mass migration.
New Zealand accepted 249,500 new immigrants in the year to November 2023, according to figures released by Stats NZ last week.
This was the most on record, and driven by citizens of India, China, the Philippines, Fiji and South Africa. During the same period 44,464 New Zealanders left the country, also a new annual high.
That means almost 5% – 1 in 20 – people in New Zealand arrived in the last year, and represents a net gain of 127,400, since 122,100 migrants returned to their home countries during the same period.
Advocacy group Zealandia Heritage Foundation on Friday responded to the new data with an open letter to Minister of Immigration Erica Stanford, demanding she advocate for an immigration policy that best serves New Zealanders.
“New Zealand accepted a population the size of Wellington city – over 230,000 immigrants – to settle across this country. As immigrants pour in from overseas, Kiwis flee elsewhere – with a whopping 40,000+ New Zealanders leaving to live in other countries,” the letter read.
“These New Zealanders understand that they cannot reasonably compete with immigrants in the job market, the housing market, and survive the cost of living crisis here when the government imports > 230,000 people per annum to compete with them for scarce resources.”
The letter goes on to point out that the minister’s own electorate has changed dramatically due to immigration, and ask that the government “press pause on immigration” by immediately reducing residency visas and gradually reducing work visas over a short term period.
The Zealandia Heritage Foundation describes itself as an organisation of young people “tired of our nation’s continual cultural, ethnic, moral and religious decline” who have set out to “remind New Zealand of what we were, and what we ought to be”.
Australian advocacy group Migration Watch Australia sent a similar letter to embattled Immigration Minister Andrew Giles earlier this month, who was then criticised for failing to respond and blocking the group on X.
New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the UK and the United States are all experiencing huge increases in immigration while battling housing and cost of living crises, despite polls showing large majorities in each nation want fewer immigrants.
We’ve sent this open letter to the Minister of Immigration @EricaStanfordMP demanding an end to the disastrous immigration policy of the last Government.👇🏻
Over 230,000 migrated in the last year alone.
Read, share, and spread the word to Press Pause on Immigration! ⏸ 1/2 pic.twitter.com/jL6PgUYHlU
— Zealandia Heritage Foundation (@ZealandiaHF) January 26, 2024
