Many Britons want to migrate to N.Z.

Press, 16 February 1980, Page 6

Many Britons want to migrate to N.Z.

Seven hundred people a week inquired at New Zealand House in London about emigration to New Zealand, said the managing director of a group of British newspapers, Colonel J. I. Smail, in Christchurch yesterday. But New Zealand’s immigration policy was obscure; the official list of eligible occupations was confidential, and New Zealand firms with vacancies were not advertising very much in Britain, he said. “There is a feeling in Britain that New Zealand does not want British skilled workers,” said Colonel Smail. Colonel Smail is managing director of “New Zealand News UK,” a weekly newspaper that gives expatriate New Zealanders and prospective British migrants news and views about New Zealand. He is in New Zealand for a month “looking at the native land.” He was born in Christchurch, has retained his New Zealand ctizenship, but has lived in Britain more than 30 years. “These are good workers with good references,” said Colonel Smail. They were a great improvement on some

who immigrated before the migration regulations were tightened in 1974. He planned to see the Minister of Immigration (Mr Bolger) and find out how many and what categories of workers New Zealand wanted. New Zealand was under-populated; it was losing skilled labour. The British unemployment rate was up to 13 per cent in some areas; the pool of skilled British labour wanting to come to New Zealand was greater than at any time in

the last 10 years, but the New Zealand immigration system presented difficulties. It was not a question of New Zealand firms advertising more in British papers, but of the need for a more definitive and long-term New Zealand immigration policy towards the United Kingdom. “New Zealand House is very helpful, but staff are always waiting to hear from Wellington. Some new regulation always seems to be just around the corner. The Migration Office will not let you see the list of eligible skills; they say it changes according to supply and demand in New Zealand.” Each week about a hundred people subscribed for six months to “New Zealand News U.K.” so that they could read job advertisements and learn about New Zealand conditions, Colonel Smail said. The newspaper was becoming something of an employment agency. On the New Zealand “bash-a-Pom” mentality, Colonel Smail said this was much overrated in Britain. He agreed, however, that British migrants should not be given executive responsibilities in a New Zealand union for the first two years. “The British have invested a lot of money in New Zealand; the ties are not just historical and emotional.

“Britain is working jolly hard to protect New Zealand’s butter and meat interests in the E.E.C. She will need New Zealand lamb for many generations yet, and will be looking for more New Zealand meat in the next few seasons.

“There is a lot wrong with the E.E.C., a lot which has to be sorted out internally. Britain’s grievance is that it is paying more than its fair share into the Community, most of it for agriculture, to subsidise French and German farmers.”