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Inward migration flows are rising again, back up towards the record levels of two years ago, Statistics NZ says. Revises previous estimate up

Inward migration flows are rising again, back up towards the record levels of two years ago, Statistics NZ says. Revises previous estimate up

Population growth from migration is on the rise again with Statistics NZ estimating the net migration gain (long term arrivals minus long term departures) was 58,391 in the 12 months to the end of January.

That's up 10.4% compared to the net gain of 52,880 that occurred in the 12 months to January last year, and is getting close to the peak of 61,800 that occurred in the 12 months to January 2017.

Statistics NZ, which recently changed the way it measures migration flows, also revised upwards its previous estimate of the net gain for the 12 months to December from 48,300 to 56,200, suggesting its previous estimates were significantly understated, throwing some doubt on the reliability of the monthly figures when they are released.

Statistics NZ also estimated that the net gain of non-New Zealand citizens hit what is believed to be a record high of 66,116 in the year to January, which was up 14.2% compared to the previous 12 months.

But the overall net gain was reduced by a net loss of 7725 New Zealand citizens in the 12 months to the end of January.

Statistics NZ estimated the biggest net gain in the 12 months to January was from China and Hong Kong at 9546, closely followed by India 9412, South Africa 6672, and the Philippines 6386.

Of the 151,620 people who arrived in the country long term in the year to January, the biggest group by visa type were Australian and NZ citizens at 44,384 which was up 1.5% compared to the previous 12 months, followed by those on work visas 33,178 (+10.6%), visitor visas 32,219 (+21.5%), student visas 26,109 (+3.4%) and residency visas (-8.7%).

 

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86 Comments

Reminder: Both NZ First and Labour openly campaigned on drastic immigration reform.

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Hello, Winston, where you at?

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He is off in the Pacific Islands at the moment I think. I voted for him not only because I like the way he doesn't take any cr4p but also because he was the only one who wants to look after NZ in terms of immigration!

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So how do you feel so far with his immigration policy?

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Like most politicians he isn't doing what I want. No surprises there though, but he doesn't have any competition as far as my vote goes. Which is how they play it.

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not sure if he takes it but he sure talks it .

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Reminder: National "good problem to have"

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If you are selective and only allow the very best to come here, yes it is a good problem to have. I', not so sure we are making the most of the opportunity though.

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So bait and switch is OK provided it's someone you like getting into power?

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I didn't vote for any of the coalition partners with my party vote (voted for the local Green MP just to try to get anybody but Lab/Nat,)

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You're somewhat missing my point: The parties currently in power are Labour and NZ First.

What National did or didn't do is irrelevant as a) they are not current the Government and b) they did not campaign on slashing immigration as part of an election ploy.

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Yes, and i'm pointing out that the alternative that you appear to support is in fact no better.

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Point out a) Where I said I support that and b) that what Labour and NZ First promising and failing to deliver has to do with National at all.

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a) nope
b) please point out where I said it did? :)

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I don't think immigration itself is the problem. The problem is the immigration is taking place with no robust plan on how to accommodate the additional population or fund the additional costs associated with the population increase.

Its a short-term solution to keep the appearance of GDP growth and neither government seems willing to address the issue. Pretty disappointing.

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It is a betrayal of the people who voted for you. If you campaigned on cutting immigration "Let's do this."

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Another broken promise....
I will be email Winston and asking 'WTF'?

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Another day ending in a "y". If you are the type who remembers things like campaign promises vs actual delivery come election day then you are not in Winston's demographic.

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What are they all going to do? I have a friend working on an organic chicken farm, automatic egg packing machine has been ordered and turns up soon, 14 jobs will go potentially more depending on how it goes.

Why can govt not control immigration?

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See previous article regading falling GDP growth

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Employers are crying out for labour so plenty of jobs around for non drug takers.

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Pity most want to pay minimum wages like Richies. That is where the rorts and corruption is found along with naive exploited 3rd work immigrants. Happy to see doctors and engineers from overseas - they will not be left high and dry when a recession hits and they add value to NZ.

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yes -its a pity but far less a pity than paying the same fit healthy people to sit on their arse all day claiming benefits -- there are plenty of better paid jobs out there - for people willing to turn up every day - work hard and learn -- in all industries - hell even home help pays $19.80 unqualified and $24.50 an hour if you do an in house one year L4 qualification - and i fully agree - immigration should only be skilled workers -- not tour guides and chefs!

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Employers are crying out for unskilled labor to work under the market rate. If they are having trouble attracting workers, they should try increasing wages/salary.

Skilled labor I understand (you can't instantly train someone to be a doctor by increasing wages).

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Because it is all that is keeping GDP chugging, and they know it.

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Unfortunately GDP growth won't cut it when GDP per capita goes backwards.

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It must be a crafty govt plan to prop up house prices.

The net gain of 66,116 non-New Zealand citizens compares with 58,020 births in NZ in 2018. Note also an immigrant is more likely to have children born here than a home grown Kiwi.

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(Comment with racist overtones deleted- Ed.)

If housing were not jacked up by immigration mortgage repayments would be less so women could stay at home and have kids... but of course it takes 20 years for a baby to grow up and vote/pay tax so the politicians don't care. High migration = less resources for kiwis = lower domestic birth rates = ethnic replacement.

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Lol, what? You might want to spend less time reading the Daily Mail mate.

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You might want so spend more time looking at NZ demographics and how they're changing

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( 483 social credit points removed for posting racist facts )
If you keep it up you will be given a little holiday from the comment stream, All free, courtesy of our publisher!. -Ed.

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Stats NZ appears to be in a shambles, so I'm not sure how much weight to give to this data.

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Bollocks......... @buylowsellhigh............... Stats NZ is one of our best run departments , and they are true professionals .

All stats are subject to margins of error , but Stats NZ has been a bedrock of sound data that has stood us well for decades

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Then why do they keep revising their figures?

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Because the method they are using now for immigration requires it.. less accurate in the short term but more accurate longterm.

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A 16.3% revision upwards (for 1 month) is too large to be a methodology variation

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Have you read the methodology?

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We are likely to have more significant revisions over coming months...

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Yes. And they might be in either direction. At least they are now measuring reality, rather than intentions as stated on arrivals cards.

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But the modelled estimates that they give us before they know the real figure later down the line have been all over the shop.

And have you read the articles that Rodey Dickens wrote on this? https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/98177/rodney-dickens-says-there-are-…

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yep, the model will need tuning. Still in the long run it will be more accurate, because it is measuring reality rather than "intentions" . A bit like intentions for tax purposes when selling a house have little reality to actual intentions...

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This coalition government is seriously a train wreck!
Just another of their fantastic promises broken, as well as every other promise which haven’t been achieved!
Reduce child poverty! Has that happened and how do you measure this?
More and more people are queuing for food parcels and more and more people wanting emergency housing!
Is this a sign of reducing child poverty?
They are hopeless!

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When are you on holiday/ away from the keyboard next ? I cant take much more.

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It is pretty tedious. Same ol' stuff rehashed every post.

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Not only was she going to reduce poverty,but she said she would'' legislate ''against poverty.
Hows that going or is that subject to a review,a survey,a Royal commission or a conversation.

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Adding to this:
I am still shocked when there were news: "Minimum allowed Meth contamination level was increased from 0.5 to 1.5"... I was buying properties in the past and believe me: 0.3 is smelly... you don't want to live there.... What about 1.5 now?

Then another news: they chaises up 800 evicted families due to now they appeared to be in allowed limit. They apologies, returned them to their (out tax payed) houses and gifted apologies cash...

So, here is a measure... Drug users are now happier then before spending their benefits (our taxes) on more drugs. Those who work hard and need help will still be in hardships.. as usual... Just because we are now accommodating more drug users, not working people.

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People were being thrown out of their homes, and all of their belongings destroyed, because of a "high" meth reading, when there was no real health risk. Let alone whether it was proven that the occupiers had anything to do with it. Most instances they had not tested before they moved in.

They were then put in motels, and given ever increasing loans to pay for their living costs..

The money given to them was to help them get back what they lost and help pay off their loans, however photo albums and other sentimental items cannot be replaced.

Imagine if the govt threw out all your belongings without having done anything wrong but be poor... If you can.

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Hello .............. Winston .............Winston

Is that pause button broken mate ?

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i was listening to a podcast yesterday about a US backpacker that came to NZ to walk the south island TA, he remarked how easy it was to get a temp work permit 20 minutes on the MBIE website and when he was in the south island most of the workers looking after the tourists where themselves tourists and how crazy it was.
this is just a crazy situation lets flood the place with tourists then bring in backpackers to look after them meanwhile unemployment rises why? and no they are not all on drugs and dont want work

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Try a stint in Queenstown - get a menial job paying $17.00 per hour then try and get some accommodation that leaves a little left over so you can eat and travel to the job

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For backpackers who's accomodation can go from $20/night to free in a car, income at $17/hr which would allow the holiday to continue is a fairly good deal.

It's rather impossible to turn the NZ tourism industry into "pay for at least 3-star accommodation everyday or GTFO".

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just returned from ridding a bike trail up north and stayed in two places both kiwi owned and kiwi employees and was more than happy to pay that little bit extra because of it but that was just me im sure most would want the cheapest price and wouldn't care where the employees are from or what it does to the local economy
i applaud this couple that are trying to build up a regional town and having seen first hand what they are doing i hope they get nominated
http://leftbank.co.nz/the-story/
It is hoped that the overall investment of almost $2m will cause visitors to stop, spend time and get to know the many great aspects of Kaikohe; the real issues that media does not report. By employing virtually all locals, this provides guests with an opportunity to get to know the people of our area, an experience commented on frequently – departing guests often leave with a big hug for the manager! One german couple commented that the evening sharing the backpackers unit with a local family attending a family reunion was one of the highlights of their New Zealand trip

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Clearly the annual rotation of government workers has occurred. They move between Met office, treasury, and stats department. That is why our weather forecasts, economic forecasts, and understanding of what is happening in New Zealand is so poor. It sure would be good if the Stats department could release the details from the census of last year. Perhaps they are all occupied counting Kiwi Build houses. They should employ Shane Jones and Twyford to creatively produce some figures that help us put up with the nonsense coming from the Beehive.

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Nothing will change as always.

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Neat! another city added to our vast country.. plenty of empty houses for them to move into.. we need more cars on the roads and will also help lessen our environmental footprint and improve our quality of life. More fish for everyone!

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(Libelous comment deleted, Ed).

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Ps. How sad this shooting. But it doesn't surprise me given the putridly racist abuse my wife has twice suffered in Christchurch.

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It really is quite horrific, I feel for all the people involved. But you're right, as I have mentioned on here numerous times Christchurch is definitely the crime filled racist Skin Head capital of New Zealand.

Witness Ahmad Al-Mahmoud, 37, described the shooter as white skinned, blond, quite short and wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest.

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Very very sad. Would almost be my definition of "Not NZ Values" - Kiwis are famous the world over for being open minded and prejudice free which explains why so many countries are happy to welcome them on OE.

My visibly immigrant wife has never experienced any racist abuse in NZ (16 years in Auckland) and I hope her step-son and his Melanesian family who live in Christchurch haven't either.

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I am glad to hear. Overall Auckland is very tolerant. Unfortunately from having lived and travelled in the South Island, it is far less so

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Way too early to start generalising about skin heads etc. we have no idea who’s behind it yet. Very sad day for NZ and CHC in particular who have had more than enough shit to deal with over the years

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We know who was behind it, his manifesto has been posted online.

It was an Australian.

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Born there. Raised in ChCh.
Buchanan implies dropping of the ball in terms of intel.

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"Right-wing extremists have been very visible, very vocal in Christchurch and have carried out attacks on minority communities regularly over the past decade or so. This is not surprising, as terrible as it is, because of that."

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12213123

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And will we deport him back? Of course not.

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The only way he's leaving the prison system is in a bodybag. No way does he get out alive.

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The pictures of the shooter's gear and markings on his AR-15 and magazines include white supremacist markings, and the names of people involved in other mosque shootings overseas.

The shooter that is confirmed his details and name are widely circulated online. Along with his "political" views. His fb live stream of the shooting has been taken down.

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Details are unclear. What is certain: a sick bastard.

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Someone has captured video using Fraps or some other video capture software, it's all over the place now.

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White supremacist POS.. One of the few times I regret NZ doesn't have the death penalty.

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Well Paul Buchanan is saying on Radio NZ it is likely to be a ChCh based cell.
And he is also saying there needs to be a lot of intelligence soul searching.
We are incredibly guilty in this country of complacency on many fronts.

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One of the few groups of people i'd worry about making sweeping generalizations about.

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Friggin big wake up call. Things can hapoen here that happen elsewhere. Surprise surprise

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Having a tough time processing what just happened in Christchurch. So much senseless loss, more pain for a broken city, complete lack of humanity. What is coming of this world?

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People, a monumentally horrific crime has taken place in Christchurch today. At this point 49 people have been murdered in cold blood and many more are injured. There are some unacceptable comments on this site that we are removing. Some responses may go with them.

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Thank you.

My blood pressure was extremely elevated by some of the comments... there are some that need a time-out in a corner.

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Gareth,with respect you have allowed someone to post that ChCh is a rascist city and the shooter is a skinhead right winger!
That is absolute rubbish and that should be deleted as it is BS!
The perpetrator came from Grafton Australia and his manifesto states that he was originally going to target the Dunedin mosque.
ChCh is not to blame for this cowardly act anymore so than any other place in the world and he should not get away with that.
Also The perpetrator was not raised in ChCh at all as Fritz has stated.
He is totally out of order with his statements
Anyway your site m delete what you want !

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It's absolutely tragic that this has happened in my Hometown, but it also tragically reinforces the very toxic culture that has up until now laid dormant, festering within Christchurch.

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Terrible comments but I think you are wrong to take them down.
Part of the situation - it is better that everyone can see that.

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The deaths are terrible but I'm worried about the attacks actual point of origin. Its not lost on me that this occurred on the day of the global students environmental strike. I have grave doubts that there is any sort of cell operating in NZ, given we are part of 5 eyes, arguably the most invasive surveillance system in the world, it would be highly unlikely to escape detection given it has repeatedly detected terror cells in far more remote parts of the world. I guess we can look forward to permanently armed police and reduced civil liberties in the future. As for immigration being driven by the view of NZ being a safe bolt hole...Mr Thiel will be hiding in his panic room right about now....see you at the airport!

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Some really sick and prejudice comments against Christchurch again on this site.. note usually it is allowed and not moderated...even on a day like this , simply pathetic. Racism is in every community so get over your selves and get out of your bubble.

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We may all have a smidgen of racism in us but we should keep it under control.

For all Muslims reading this blog - every non-Muslim Kiwi with a shred of humanity is thinking of you after this terrible crime. There is some extra evil about being attacked when praying in a place of worship.

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Speckles you are correct as I have said above!
There are some really biased people on here!
ChCh did have some skinhead episodes a decade or so ago,but there has been next to nothing since as far as I am aware.
I feel a damn site safer walking around ChCh at night than Auckland where I have been several times, but that is never commented on!
Fritz comments are blatantly wrong and yet they have been allowed to remain!!!!

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15/03/2019 will go down as the day NZ has lost is innocence
its the day terrorism appeared within our borders.
who cares what his motivation was or who he is or where he is from he has brought hate to our wonderful country and taken away our innocence.
well done to all our public service people that went above and beyond today, the police who rushed in , the doctors and nurses that stayed after shifts or rushed to the hospital to help
and all the others that helped in any small way they could.
this is not who we are kia kaha christchurch

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What do you mean by innocence?

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How long until OneRoof have an article up about how this affects property values?

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