With 19 days until election day, political parties in Aotearoa have now revealed their immigration policies.
Labour has taken a unique approach by addressing the historical injustices faced by victims of the Dawn Raids.
Its proposed solution, known as the “super visa,” is inspired by a similar programme in Canada.
It aims to provide support to migrant parents, particularly from the Pacific and other migrant communities.
Barbara Edmonds of the Labour Party explained, “We are doing a one-off regularisation programme for our well-settled overstayers. What is well-settled? It is for people who have lived in New Zealand for 10-plus years, and it gives them an opportunity to apply to get their visa status regularised.”
This move seeks to address cases where children, upon reaching adulthood, discover their overstayer status due to their parents’ immigration situation.
In response to Labour’s announcement, National also introduced an immigration policy called the “parent visa boost,” with a specific focus on migrant parents.
National’s Agnes Loheni said: “It’s important that we can hold on to as many of our skilled workforce at the moment because this is an area that we need across the country in a number of different sectors.
“A lot of our migrant communities come with a lot of wonderful skills that add to our economy and we want to make that possible so they can have their parents and grandparents here with them.”
Commenting on the timing of Labour’s announcement, Loheni also said, “A week out from early voting, this has come out. The Dawn Raid apology was two years ago, so why didn’t it happen sooner? It just seems very rushed.”
Over the weekend, the New Zealand Herald published Labour’s policy announcement and other political parties followed suit by releasing press statements about their own.
Edmonds jokingly said, “It was nice to see them (National) copy us.”
Both Sāmoan candidates emphasised that the realisation of these policies depended on their respective parties becoming the government.
They encouraged Pacific people to cast their votes, highlighting the significant impact they could have on the election’s outcome.
Barbara Edmonds pointed out, “You look at the likes of Carmel Sepuloni, who lost her seat in Kelston by 11 votes.
“That’s what it comes down to, every vote does count and for our Pacific and Māori people, they’re so powerful in this election.”
Loheni points out that the cost of living crisis highlights the significance of voting as a means to bring about change.
”There are 120 MPs in Parliament who make major decisions and affect our lives in the day-to-day.
“Pacific families feel the cost of living a lot more. When the cost of living goes up, it impacts our families more.”
In the midst of these policy announcements, a ban on out-of-hours visits by Immigration New Zealand remains in effect as recommendations from a review into this practice are being implemented.