The Press SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1960. Immigration And Development

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29246, 2 July 1960, Page 12

The Press SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1960. Immigration And Development

Opinions on immigration formed by Mr J. K. Dobson, president of the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association, in a three months' visit overseas accord closely with the conclusions of the committee which considered immigration at the recent Industrial Development Conference. Mr Dobson advocates bringing in skilled and semi-skilled migrants, not only to supply the needs of the growing population but to introduce valuable techniques in the production of goods. The No. 3 committee of the Industrial Development Conference found that New Zealand’s development was being impeded by a shortage of labour, particularly skilled labour; that the lack of skilled workers in such trades as engineering and metal working was particularly pressing, and that priority should be given to the encouragement of migrants with such skills. Selectivity of this sort is not favoured by that tireless advocate of immigration. Mr A. Leigh Hunt, chairman of the Dominion Settlement and Population Association. Mr Hunt thinks, pot unreasonably in a country with such a high standard of living as New Zealand, that it is unfair and selfish to take, not a crosssection of population, but only skilled men who have cost their Country of origin “some.£4ooo “to £ 6000 each to rear, educate, “ and train ”.

New Zealand’s immigration programme since the war has been too small and too selective. While other Commonwealth countries were taking all the immigrants they could get, especially immigrants of British stock, New Zealand offered a home only to single, men and women in a narrow range of ages and skilled vocations. The opportunities missed in the early post-war years may never be recovered. With the improvement of the economic and social conditions in older countries few skilled workers are now keen to emigrate: and the Industrial Development Conference produced at least one strong argument against trying to make good the shortage by l

admitting a disproportionate number of unskilled workers. In a background paper presented to the conference, Mr Noel S. Woods, chief research officer to the registrar of industrial unions in the Department of Labour, said that within New Zealand are two populations growing at different rates, and mainly in different areas. The European population, with a natural increase of about 1.5 per cent, a year, is predominantly urban. The Maori population, increasing twice as fast (about 3.6 per cent, a year), is still largely located in rural areas. Mr Woods contended that New Zealand would be “ committing a supreme folly ” if it pursued immigration to the point of creating a racial problem of under-enaployed Maoris pent up in “ Maori ” areas while immigrant labour filled the vacancies for labour in other areas. Mr Woods argued that Maori migration to urban areas should already be flowing at a rate of some 4000 a year and should continue to increase year by year. The No. 3 committee in effect supported Mr Woods’s thought that “ it, “ would appear imperative that “ overseas migration should not “ hinder or substitute for Maori " migration ”. Mr Woods emphasised that population in New Zealand is growing faster than manv believe. With an increase of 24.6 pc;r cent, over the last 10 years New Zealand is not far behind Australia’s 27.2 per cent., a little further behind Canada’s 29.7 per cent., but a long way ahead of the Uijited States with 18.7 per cent. In four of the 10 years the rate of growth of population in New Zealand was higher than in Australia in spite of Australia’s massive immigration. New Zealand’s high birth rate gives much of the population increase that Australia has had to secure through immigration; but those who have shaken their heads over the .high capita] cost of immigrants have seldom' recognised the vastly greater cost of population growth by natural increase, which is, of course, a good but a very long-term investment 'indeed.