Clayton Mitchell New Zealand First MP

Tauranga is quickly becoming a large cosmopolitan city, with people from all over the globe choosing to settle here. The food, music and other traditions they bring with them enrich our culture and our lives.

However, with immigration to New Zealand reaching new records with 120,100 immigrants in the year to October and a record net gain of 62,500, we need to be sure we also deal with the challenges this growth brings.

I am particularly concerned about the high levels of debt with which foreign students are burdening themselves and their families. When seeking to use student visas as a pathway to residency, too many students are taking on debt at levels they and their families cannot pay. Desperate to try and pay these debts, student-visa holders are taking on low-skilled jobs and are opening themselves up to being exploited by employers. The goal is no longer study.

In light of this, I think it's fair to say that extending work rights to students was a mistake. We should also reconsider the pathway from student visa to residency. These changes would encourage students from families who can actually afford sending them to New Zealand and whose ultimate goal is achieving this course of study. It would deter other families from taking on debt they cannot afford.

We need to protect immigrants from saddling themselves and their families with debt.

These changes would also help decrease the flood of immigrants New Zealand continues to face.