Kiwis returning to nest

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 1

Kiwis returning to nest

By

PETER LUKE

in Wellington Popular images of a stream of rats leaving the sinking New Zealand ship, one-way tickets gripped firmly between their teeth, are wrong, according to the Planning Council. The council yesterday released a report showing that between 1981 and 1988 New Zealand made a net migration gain of 6400. This represented 3.7 per cent of the total population increase of 171,500 during these seven years. The convenor of the council’s population monitoring group, Dr Richard Bedford, acknowledged that the net increase was small compared with the total number of migrants.

But it did query the popular view of mass emigration that has given rise to such jokes as “would the last person to leave turn off the lights.” Dr Bedford emphasised the importance of not reading too much into short-term annual figures. Planners had to get used to the idea of migration fluctuating in fairly short cycles. He estimated that in the year to March this year, there would be a net migration loss of about 18,000. But the council report shows that New Zealand had a sustained period of net out-migra-tion between 1977 and 1982, but that since 1983 only one year, 1986, has seen a big net loss.

The report also highlights the importance of “return migrants,” who made up 44 per cent of immigrants in the early 1980 s. These were people who were born in New Zealand and in this country for the 1986 census, but overseas in the preceding census. He also suggested that "overseas” might be a stepping stone for people migrating from one region of New Zealand to another. The Planning Council report also attempted to balance another popular belief — the drift to the north. While the report agreed that the South Island had a net loss of migrants to both halves of. the North Island, the flow south-

wards was often ignored. Between 1981 and 1986 the South Island lost 21,400 to the northern North Island, but gained 17,300; and lost 21,800 to the southern North Island, but gained 17,300. These net losses were broadly similar to those in the preceding inter-census period. The big difference between the two periods was the slow-down or net gain the three areas experienced with regard to overseas migration. The South Island’s net loss overseas between 1976 and 1981 was 30,500, compared with a loss of 4600 between 1981 and 1986. Further report, page 3.