Refused Permission To Settle

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31230, 30 November 1966, Page 1

Refused Permission To Settle

(N.Z. Press Association) ; AUCKLAND, Nov. 29. Immigration regulations today dashed the hopes of an American family wanting to settle in New Zealand. Mr and Mrs F. M. Bosch and their nine children arrived in Auckland in the Oriana from Perth. They migrated to Australia from Montana less than two months ago, became disillusioned with conditions in Australia, and decided to return to the United States. Shipboard acquaintances, however, influenced them to try their luck in New Zealand. Mr Bosch cabled the Minister of Immigration (Mr

Shand) from Sydney asking for permanent residence in New Zealand “after great promises and grave disappointments in Australia.” The night before the Oriana reached Auckland, Mr Bosch received a cable from the Immigration Department advising him that he would be granted a temporary stay in New Zealand provided he had sufficient funds and had booked his passage to leave within three months. A change in immigration status was not granted to visitors, the department said. The family was bitterly disappointed. Mrs Bosch only needed a glimpse of the Auckland harbour approaches to confirm her favourable picture of New. Zealand. “It’s got mountains and streams like Montana,” she said. "In Aus-

tralia, all they've got is flies.” Mrs Bosch said she and her busband had always dreamed of living in New Zealand, but when they contemplated selling their 2000-acre mixed farm and migrating, the pamphlets and books they read all claimed that New Zealand was not accepting immigrants. In Western Australia—the family’s second choice—Mrs Bosch said it had been impossible to buy a small farm to supplement her husband’s income. The cost of living was high. Mrs Bosch said groceries and other goods were about the same prices as in the United States, but wages were only a quarter. Housing was of a much lower-standard.

Mrs Bosch said most Americans they met in Australia found the cost of living crippling. There were eight American families returning to the United States in the Oriana as well as a number of single Americans, including . some school teachers. The Bosch family has received two offers of housing accommodation from Aucklanders who read about their difficulties in Australia. Mr Bosch was uncertain tonight if the family would take temporary residence in New Zealand and try to seek permission to immigrate, or coni tinue the journey back to Montana. He said, however, that it looked as if the family would still be in the Oriana when the ship sailed at noon to-