IMMIGRATION CONTROL F.O.L. and industry support Govt move

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33434, 16 January 1974, Page 14

IMMIGRATION CONTROL F.O.L. and industry support Govt move

GN’eu? Zealand Press Association > AUCKLAND. January 15. Spokesmen for manufacturers and trade unionists last night agreed wholeheartedly on the need for New Zealand to have a policy of controlled immigration.

The president of the Federation of Labour (Mr T. E. Skinner) and the chairman of the Manufacturers Federation’s immigration committee (Mr F. Brueli) said there was a need for Government action to prevent uncontrolled immigration.

Both added that there was just as big a need for a vigorous drive to recruit immi-

grants with the necessary skills.

The two men were commenting on the announcement on Monday by the Minister of Labour (Mr Watt) that the Government was preparing a contingency plan to prevent a rush of immigrantfrom countries hit by the fuel crisis from getting out of hand.

“I entirely agree that the Government should have the power to curb the rate of im-' migration,” said Mr Brueil. ‘One thing we do not want, is immigration for the sake; of immigration.” “Surely New Zealanders have the right to decide what sort of people they want to come and live in this country. What we want are people with skills, people who can contribute something to the economy, people who are

able to give something to New Zealand.” Mr Brueil said.

PLANNING URGED Mr Skinner said he believed the basic problem was that New Zealand did not have a planned approach to immigration.

"Immigration should be on a planned economic basis,” he said. “Of course we don’t want an uncontrolled flood of immigrants from countries where there is high unemployment. “What we want is a vigorous immigration policy tailored to suit our needs, and the Federation of Labour has

been saying this since 1969. “A detailed study should be made of what skills our industry needs, what sort of people we can most usefully accommodate, and how many immigrants we can best absorb each year. "Then there should be a .real drive to recruit the people we need, not just from Britain as in the past, but from Australia and North America and the whole of Europe. “In the long run the whole country would benefit from such a properly planned immigration policy,” Mr SkinIner said.