The government has asked the Productivity Commission to inquire into immigration settings and recommend what changes are required to meet the future needs of New Zealand economy and society.

The office of the Productivity Commission confirmed this in a press release this morning.

“The Government has requested the Productivity Commission Te Komihana What Hua o Aoteroa to inquire into what working-age immigration policy settings would best facilitate New Zealand’s long-term economic growth and promote the wellbeing of New Zealanders,” the press release said.

Earlier Productivity Commission had received a term of reference on April 12 from Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance Grant Robertson providing a broad context and the guidelines of what to enquire and what to exclude from the enquiry around general immigration settings.

“The disruption caused by COVID-19 has provided us a rare and unique opportunity to focus an inquiry on an area that makes a significant contribution to New Zealand’s labour market, culture and society – immigration settings. This inquiry will enable New Zealand to strategically optimise its immigration settings by taking a system-wide view, including the impact of immigration on the labour market, housing and associated infrastructure, and the natural environment,” Robertson said.

Acknowledging the government’s request, Productivity Commission’s Chair Ganesh Nana said, “We are excited to receive this challenging assignment and look forward to reviewing, assessing, and recommending migration settings for New Zealand.”

The New Zealand Productivity Commission is an independent Crown entity established in April 2011 and completes in-depth inquiries on topics selected by the government, carries out productivity-related research, and promotes understanding of productivity issues.

Among the range of issues that the government has asked the Productivity Commission to enquire, some of the key issues are the impact of migration on labour demand and wages in particular areas or sectors, the effect of access to migrant labour on firms’ incentives to make productivity-enhancing adjustments (e.g., adopting technological solutions or other forms of capital investment).

Also on the perceptions that keep on emerging around immigration debate in the country that any “crowding out” of domestic workers by migrant workers will disproportionately affect New Zealanders who lack work experience and qualifications, and any large increases in net migration (and hence rapid population growth) impacts on housing markets and associated infrastructure, and on social cohesion.

It is important to note that in the lead up to the 2017 elections, there was an intense public debate around the increasing numbers of net immigration, with the Labour Party calling for a radical purge of number of immigrants (20-30,000) – a promise that could not be implemented in the first term of the government largely because of the outcry of the employers and businesses about the shortage of skilled, and willing to work, workforce in the country.

The global Coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing closed borders have given the government much-needed space and political capital to have a completely fresh look at the country’s immigration settings.

The Commission has been requested to provide a final report to referring Ministers (Minister of Finance & Minister of Immigration) by April 30 2022.

Source: The Indian Weekender, Sandeep Singh