26/11/10 - The changing face of New Zealand

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New Zealand will look like a much different place in the future, if the early results of a longitudinal study are anything to go by.

The Growing Up In New Zealand study of more than 7000 children born in the last two years and their families released its first report today.

A longitudinal study involves repeated observations of the same items over long periods of time.

The report, Before We Were Born, interviewed the parents of the children during pregnancy, finding the families very different from those of previous generations.

The average age of parents having children was greater than 30, a third of children were born to a parent that did not grown up in New Zealand, 60 per cent of the parents were in a legally binding relationship and an increasing number of children were born into varied family structures.

"The participants of this longitudinal study are being born into a culturally and structurally diverse New Zealand, with many of their parents having moved here only in their adult years," the report said.

"Our children also have diverse socioeconomic realities and their parents have varied intentions for their care arrangements in the future."

The report said 80 per cent of the children were born into households where English was their primary language.

While one in three would grow up in a multilingual home only one in 20 of the children's parents would speak te reo Maori.

The study said that "raises concerns about maintenance of this unique resource for our future generations".

More than half (60 per cent) of the pregnancies were planned and most of the families had two or three children.

Although more than 90 per cent of the mothers reported changing their dietary habits during pregnancy, a "considerable number" consumed alcohol or caffeine or eat raw or highly processed foods.

In addition 16 per cent of the mothers did not take folate before or during their pregnancy.

More than one in 10 of the mothers continued to smoke and those who were not physically active before their pregnancy were unlikely to start during it.

The majority of mother intended to breastfeed their child to at least six months and to fully immunise them.

Director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre at Auckland University Nikki Turner said their intentions to immunise was good news.

"There is a significantly higher percentage of people undecided if it's their first child. It is really important that parents having their first child are clearly informed of the issues around immunisation with good information and good decision-making tools."

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said she was pleased concerns about mothers' behaviour during pregnancy had been identified.

"That's part of the study is to look backwards and see what is actually happening so we can move forward and make some changes in how we do it."

Four out of 10 of the children were born to families living in the most deprived areas of the country and almost half were born to families living in rental accommodation.

Most of the mothers were in paid employment before their child was born, whether it was their first child or not, and intended to return to work.

Many of the parents in the most deprived areas did not know about paid parental leave nor working for families tax credits.

"This is disappointing given that these are the families who probably require this additional support most," the report said.

The parents said they would like to take more leave after their child's birth.

(Source NZPA)

26/11/10 - One nation with many nationalities

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Two-year-old Jacob Wallis has European and Maori ancestors, but his parents hope he will think of himself as simply a "Kiwi".

His mother Clare Wallis, 32, is one of a "leading lights" group of 200 chosen to test each round of the Growing Up in New Zealand surveys, and comes from a Pakeha family in Pukekohe.

She and Aaron Wallis, also 32, were teenage sweethearts at Pukekohe High and the fact that Aaron's grandmother was Ngati Porou was irrelevant.

"He's not involved with his iwi. You tick a box on a piece of paper, I think that is a sign of New Zealand where we've all got different backgrounds," Clare says.

Aaron ticked the "NZ Maori" box on his census form "because that's what my mother would do".

His mother was brought up speaking te reo Maori at Te Araroa near East Cape, but Aaron understands only a few words of the language, and is uneasy talking about ethnicity.

"I don't know if ethnicity is different from nationality," he says.

"I identify myself as my cultural upbringing and I was raised as a Kiwi.

"There was no option for 'Kiwi'. I don't put myself on the [Maori] electoral roll, I think it's a wasted vote. I thought about putting 'New Zealander' [on the census form] but I thought that would be a waste, too."

The couple have been to Te Araroa for funerals and other family events and will take Jacob there when he's older. He is already learning Maori songs at his creche in Onehunga, where the family lives.

But both parents are happy that Jacob's classmates come from every part of the world. The creche celebrates Diwali as well as Matariki.

"There's a bit of everything - Pacific Island, Indian, Asian, European - and the teachers are all different ethnic groups as well," says Clare.

"It's a big change in the world, it wasn't that long ago that it wasn't like that. So I think it's wonderful that you grow up and just think it's normal that there are lots of different cultures."

The full Growing Up in NZ study of 6822 babies born in Auckland and Waikato in the past two years reveals for the first time the full extent of ethnic mixing going on around us.

Almost half the babies have more than one ethnicity - 33 per cent have two ethnicities, 8 per cent have three and 3 per cent have more than three.

A fifth of babies will grow up in homes where English is not the main language.

More than a third of the mothers were born overseas, most in Asia (11 per cent), the Pacific Islands (10 per cent) or Europe (7 per cent).

When pressed for their "main ethnicity", only 57 per cent of the mothers said they were NZ European, followed by almost equal numbers of Pacific people and Asians (both 15 per cent) and Maori (14 per cent).

But the ethnicities of the babies reveal that the country's two historically dominant groups, European and Maori, look set to keep their influence in our future through intermarriage.

Almost three-quarters (72.5 per cent) of the babies will be partly European and almost a quarter (24.1 per cent) will be partly Maori.

A further fifth (21.4 per cent) will be partly Pacific and 16.2 per cent will be partly Asian.

Moreover, Europeans and Maori are still much more dominant in the rest of New Zealand than they are in Auckland, where most of the Growing Up sample live.

Nationally, 66 per cent of mothers still give European as one of their ethnicities and 23 per cent are at least part-Maori, while Pacific people account for only 12 per cent and Asians for 11 per cent.

(Source Simon Collins, NZ Herald)

25/11/10 - Gruesome abuse case sparks cry for migrant protection

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She arrived in Saudi Arabia a high-spirited 23-year-old, eager to start work as a maid to help support her family back home.

Four months later, Sumiati was Indonesia's poster child for migrant abuse, alone and staring vacantly from a hospital bed, her face sliced and battered.

But while public anger has forced President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Government to acknowledge the problem for the first time, few expect any firm action to be taken.

Gruesome images snapped of Sumiati, now recovering in the Saudi city of Medina, have been splashed on the front pages of local newspapers and led television newscasts for more than a week.

Her employer - who has been taken in for questioning by police - is accused of cutting off part of her lips with scissors, scalding her back with an iron, fracturing her middle finger and beating her legs until she could hardly walk.

"It's hardly the first such case," said Wahyu Susilo, a policy analyst at Indonesia's advocacy group, Migrant Care. "Again and again we hear about slavery-like conditions, torture, sexual abuse and even death, but our government has chosen to ignore it.

Why? Because migrant workers generate US$7.5 billion ($9.9 billion) in foreign exchange every year." Workers from Asian countries dominate service industries in the Middle East and there have been many reports of abuse - including allegations in recent days that an employer in Kuwait drove 14 metal pins into the body of a Sri Lankan maid.

"The wanton brutality alleged in these cases is shocking," said Nisha Varia, senior women's rights researcher at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, which called on authorities to investigate claims promptly and bring those responsible to justice.

She and others called cases like that of Sumiati the "tip of the iceberg".

But countries that export labour have a responsibility as well, Nisha says.

Though Indonesia sends more than 6.5 million workers abroad every year, it has drawn much criticism for failing - despite repeated promises - to ratify a 1990 United Nations convention on the protection of migrant workers. It also has not signed a bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia that would give workers a legal basis to challenge employers. But Oon Kurniaputra, an Indonesian Government adviser, argued this week that the problem was not the fault of governments.

It was with profit-hungry recruitment agencies that lured young men and women overseas without ensuring their safety when they got there, he said.

Sumiati's case prompted Yudhoyono to call a Cabinet meeting last week to discuss ways in which the Government could do more. It turned out to be a public relations disaster.

It emerged that another Indonesian maid, 36-year-old Kikim Komalasari, had allegedly been tortured to death by her Saudi employer, her body found in a rubbish bin on November 11 in the town of Abha.

"It's shocking to hear this ... it's beyond inhumane," said Yudhoyono. "I want the law to be upheld and to see an all-out diplomatic effort."

Some legislators suggested a moratorium on sending domestic workers to Saudi Arabia, something that is considered unlikely given the close economic and political ties between the predominantly Muslim countries.

It also comes at a sensitive time, with hundreds of thousands of Indonesians having just been in Saudi Arabia performing in the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Yudhoyono, meanwhile, had a proposal: Give all migrant workers cellphones so they can call family members or authorities if they need help.

"It just shows how little he understands the problems domestic workers abroad are facing," scoffed Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, an opposition legislator. "Their employers are locking them up and taking away their passports ... they aren't going to let them keep a phone."

Most people believe little will change until girls are better educated and prepared for better jobs in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelagic nation of 237 million people, where the average wage is less than US$300 a month.

(Source AP)

25/11/10 - Household spending up 6.1pc, income up 11.5pc in 3 years

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Average weekly household spending rose by $58 or 6.1 per cent to $1010 between 2006/07 and 2009/10, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) says.

Statistics New Zealand's three-yearly household economic survey also showed that average annual household income from regular sources rose 11.5 per cent from $68,710 to $76,584 in the three year period. But for just the last year of the survey income actually fell, from $78,019.

The increase over the full three years was driven by rises in wages and salaries, other government benefits, and New Zealand Superannuation and war pensions, SNZ said today.

The increase in spending was due largely to $40 or 18.8 per cent more being spent on housing and household utilities, taking it to $253, while spending on food lifted $15 or 9.1 per cent to $178.

Rent rose $22 to $88, while and household energy was up $7 to $43, with electricity up $6 to $37. Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food was up $5 to $43, meat, poultry, and fish lifted $3 to $27, while non-alcoholic beverages gained $2 to $10.

Furniture and furnishings fell $4 to $12, and major household appliances were down $2 to $7.

In 2009/10, the housing and household utilities group was the largest component of household spending, making up a quarter of total household spending, up from 22 per cent in 2006/07. The next largest components were food at 18 per cent, and transport at 13 per cent, said Statistics NZ.

Average weekly mortgage payments, for those households making them, fell from $376 to $355 in the last year of the survey.

That continued a decline from $387 in 2007/08, which was mainly due to a fall in mortgage interest rates, it said.

For those making mortgage payments in 2009/10, 20 per cent made weekly payments over $500, down from 24 per cent in 2008/09 and 27 per cent in 2007/08, but up from 17 per cent in 2006/07.

For households who paid rent, average weekly spending on rent was $242 in 2009/10, slipping from $244 in 2008/09 but up from $212 in 2006/07.

For those making rent payments, 33 per cent made weekly payments over $300, a slight change from 34 per cent in 2008/09 and up from 27 per cent in 2007/08 and 22 per cent in 2006/07.

(Source NZPA)

25/11/10 - Labour commits to fundamental economic changes

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A future Labour government would fundamentally change the economy to put New Zealand on a pathway to recovery, the party's finance spokesman, David Cunliffe, said today.

There would be "bold changes" by a government that would be fiscally prudent and socially progressive, he told the Institute of Policy Studies in a speech today.

"Because of National's wasteful tax cuts there won't be huge pockets of money to spend when the next Labour government takes office," he said.

"We know we can't just tax and spend our way out of a hole.

"Instead of massive extra spending, we will have to reform the fundamentals of our economy."

Mr Cunliffe said Labour's policies would be in stark contrast to National's "mismanagement" of the economy.

"Our pathway will encourage businesses to innovate more and increase the value of our exports," he said. "Our pathway will include higher skill levels and therefore higher earnings for working people.

"Labour will chart a new course of innovation, saving, ownership and investment."

Mr Cunliffe said the Government's response to new global economic conditions had been "passive" and the recovery had stalled.

"The truth is the only way they can get the numbers to add up is to massively cut government services and privatise assets if they get a second term," he said.

"And even then, how they will pay for current levels of superannuation without pre-funding or doubling the tax burden on our kids is a mystery to everyone - including the Treasury and the Retirement Commission."

Mr Cunliffe said an active economic development partnership between government, business and the community was at the core of Labour's plan to build a strong export economy that would create good jobs and lift incomes.

"We will unlock opportunities to move New Zealand companies up the global value chain and unlock potential across specific sectors and regions," he said.

Mr Cunliffe used Denmark as an example of a country that had developed much higher value niche manufacturing and service industries.

"We are top in milk powder. Denmark makes ridiculously expensive butter and cheese.

"We are great at exporting raw logs. They are number one in furniture design.

"We have abundant renewable hydro power. They are the world's leading exporters of wind farm turbines."

Mr Cunliffe said there would not be much fiscal room to move when Labour took over and it would have to make significant changes which included:

• Stronger use of the capital account and partnerships;
• Stronger commitment to economic development, innovation, skills and research, science and technology;
• Monetary policy that was less volatile and therefore more supportive of exporters; and
• Making sure New Zealanders owned their own future.

(Source Otago Daily Times)

23/11/10 - Employment reforms passed into law

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Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson says the passing into law tonight of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill (No 2) and the Holidays Amendment Bill will provide New Zealanders with more opportunities and choice and boost business confidence.

"These two bills improve our employment law framework by promoting greater clarity where required and increasing flexibility and choice for both employers and employees," Ms Wilkinson says.

"This Government is focused on creating jobs and providing the right conditions for economic growth.

"Ensuring that businesses have confidence in our employment framework and aren't bogged down by compliance costs will increase investment in our economy and our communities.

"We want to see New Zealanders in work. We want them to be successful and we back them to make the right decisions for their families."

Ms Wilkinson says a significant amount of work went into ensuring the reforms improved the employment law framework and the public was widely consulted.

"The extension of the 90 day trial period reflects our intention to provide New Zealanders with every opportunity to get a job. It has proved successful for small businesses and will prove successful for all employers.

"Other changes to the Employment Relations Act will enhance the personal grievance system, making it more effective and efficient."

Under the Holidays Act, a formula for calculating leave and holiday entitlements for those whose hours of work or pay vary has been introduced - called Average Daily Pay.

Employees will also be allowed to cash up a week of leave or transfer the observance of a public holiday to another day if they wish to.

"The Holidays Act has long proved difficult for employers to interpret and the changes made provide more certainty and will reduce compliance costs.

"It will also bring greater choice for employees. The opportunity to cash up a week of annual leave at the employees request has enormous public support and I know many are looking forward to utilising it."

The majority of the changes will take affect on April 1, 2011.

(Source Beehive)

22/11/10 - Migration gain slips as departures up

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The gain in population from migration declined in October, as the number of people leaving permanently or on a long term basis (PLT) rose to the highest level since January 2009.

The seasonally adjusted net PLT gain was 700 last month, down from 1000 in September, as seasonally adjusted departures last month were the highest in 21 months at 6600, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said today.

Unadjusted arrivals outnumbered departures by 1700 in October, down from 3000 a year earlier. The net outflow of 1900 PLT migrants to Australia was up from 800 in October 2009, but still down from the net outflow of 2700 in October 2008.

For the year to October, the net migration gain was 12,600, compared to 18,600 in the October 2009 year. The net outflow to Australia for the year was 19,200, down from 21,200 in the October 2009 year and from 34,600 in the October 2008 year.

(Source Otago Daily Times)

20/11/10 - Immigration Act 2009 - Employer Obligations

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The provisions of the Immigration Act 2009 relating to employer obligations come into effect on 29 November 2010. The provision allowing the Department of Labour to share information with employers came into effect on 2 August 2010.

What is changing?

The 2009 Act narrows the ‘reasonable excuse’ defence for employing a foreign national not entitled to work in New Zealand.

Employer obligations

The new Act retains the requirement that employers must not employ foreign nationals who are not entitled to work in New Zealand or for that employer. This applies whether or not the employer knew the foreign national was not entitled to work.

From 29 November 2010, employers need to show they have taken ‘reasonable precautions’ and ‘exercised due diligence’ in checking whether foreign nationals are entitled to work for them. An Inland Revenue ‘IR 330’ form will no longer be a ‘reasonable excuse’.

The reasonable excuse change will not apply to workers who were employed before 29 November 2010, when the new Act provisions come into effect.

The Department of Labour has worked with employer organisations and unions to develop guidance on what constitutes ‘reasonable precautions’ and ‘due diligence’.

The Department has also introduced an online system called VisaView to enable registered employers to verify whether prospective employees are entitled to work for them and whether there are any conditions.

The system is designed to be quick and easy to use, and to protect individual privacy. Employers who obtain information from the Department will be required to comply with the Privacy Act 1993.

Penalties

The penalties for offences committed by employers will remain the same as under the Immigration Act 1987:

• The maximum penalty for employing a foreign national who is not entitled to work in New Zealand is a fine of $10,000.
• The maximum penalty for allowing or continuing to allow a foreign national to work while knowing that person is not entitled to work is a fine of $50,000.
• The maximum penalty for exploiting a foreign national who the employer has allowed to work while knowing that person was not entitled to work is:
• imprisonment for seven years, or
• a fine of $100,000, or both.

Employer obligations – frequently asked questions

Note: The provisions of the Immigration Act 2009 are not yet in force. The provisions relating to employer obligations will come into effect on 29 November 2010, with the exception of the provision allowing the Department to share information with employers, which comes into effect on 2 August 2010.

The provisions of the Immigration Act 1987 apply until the new provisions come into effect.

How will the Immigration Act 2009 affect employers?

Under the Immigration Act 2009 (and the Immigration Act 1987), an employer must not employ a foreign national who is not entitled to work in New Zealand or entitled to work for that employer. This applies whether or not the employer knew that the foreign national was not entitled to work.

What if an employer holds an IR 330 (tax code declaration) form for the employee?

When the Immigration Act 2009 comes into effect on 29 November 2010, the provision of an IR330 tax declaration form will no longer be a reasonable excuse for employing a person who is not entitled to work in New Zealand or entitled to work for that employer.

Instead, an employer will have to show that they took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to check whether the foreign national was entitled to work for the employer in New Zealand.

What does the change mean for employers?

The Department of Labour recognises that most employers are already very good at checking a person’s entitlement to work. Our guide to help employers check work entitlement suggests that:

Employers have secure and robust systems and processes in place for:

• checking a potential employee’s immigration status retaining copies of the documentation that was checked.
• Employers review their recruitment processes to ensure they are communicating to potential employees at the earliest opportunity the need to provide evidence of eligibility to work in New Zealand.

How will an employer be able to check a foreign national’s entitlement to work?

Employers can:

• Ask if the person is entitled to do the work (e.g. is the person entitled to work in Marlborough picking grapes?)
• Seek documentary evidence of entitlement
• Check the evidence
• Keep a record of the evidence

What documents will be acceptable as evidence of entitlement to work?

The Department will recognise (and proposes that as a matter of best practice employers only accept) the following documents as acceptable evidence of a person’s eligibility to work in New Zealand:

Non-citizen

• Foreign passport with a valid New Zealand work visa
• Foreign passport with any valid New Zealand visa allowing work
• Foreign passport with a New Zealand residence class visa
• Australian passport
• Foreign passport with an Australian permanent resident visa and/or a current resident return visa

Citizenship

• New Zealand passport
• Full New Zealand birth certificate issued prior to 1 January 2006 showing parents names (with photo identification)
• Full New Zealand birth certificate issued on or after 1 January 2006 that positively indicates New Zealand citizenship
• Certificate of grant of New Zealand citizenship (with photo identification)
• Registration as a New Zealand citizen by descent under section 7(2) of the Citizenship Act 1977 (with photo identification)
• An evidentiary certificate issued under section 21 of the Citizenship Act 1977 confirming the person to be a New Zealand citizen (with photo identification)
• Foreign passport with an endorsement indicating the fact of New Zealand citizenship (with photo identification)
• New Zealand citizens include persons from the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau.

What support will the Department provide employers?

The Department has developed an online service (VisaView) that will let an employer check a prospective employee’s entitlement to work in New Zealand for that employer.

When will the online enquiry service be available for employers to use?

The VisaView online service is available from 2 August 2010.

Can any employer use the online enquiry system?

Employers will be required to register and be verified as a New Zealand employer.

What information will I be able to get about a potential employee?

Employers are able to check whether a person is able to work for that employer, any conditions attached to that particular visa and the expiry date of that visa.

What are the penalties for employers who employ foreign nationals not entitled to work in New Zealand?

Penalties for offences committed by employers remain the same as under the Immigration Act 1987:

• The maximum penalty for allowing a foreign national who is not entitled to work in the employer’s service to do that work is a fine of $10,000.
• The maximum penalty for allowing or continuing to allow a foreign national to work while knowing that person is not entitled to work is a fine of $50,000.
• The maximum penalty for exploitation of a foreign national whom the employer has allowed to work while knowing that person was not entitled to work is:
• imprisonment for seven years, or
• a fine of $100,000, or both.

18/11/10 - Syrian man's false passport convictions set aside

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A Syrian man convicted on two charges of possessing a false passport when he and his family tried to enter New Zealand in 2005 has had his convictions set aside, after a successful appeal to the Court of Appeal.

The man, known as X because his name and details have been suppressed, will not be retried as he was sentenced to two years, three months' imprisonment in August 2009 and since been released on parole.

He arrived at Auckland with his wife and four children in November 2005. He and his family were Syrian and travelling on false Belgian passports in their own names.

According to their false travel documents, which were detected at Auckland Airport, they were Belgian citizens coming to New Zealand as tourists for 14 days.

X sought refugee status, falsely claiming he was wanted by Syrian authorities for stealing and destroying potentially sensitive materials from the military.

Two charges of possessing a false passport were laid against him in November 2005, and in July 2009 he was convicted after a jury trial in the Manukau District Court.

He and his family have not been granted refugee status.

In March this year, the Removal Review Authority directed they be granted residence permits, as he had been detained and beaten in Syria in the early 1990s.

The Court of Appeal, in a decision released today, allowed his appeal on the basis that he had a "reasonable excuse" to possess a false passport despite being unsuccessful in seeking refugee status, as he could have had a genuine belief he might be accepted as a refugee.

(Source Otago Daily Times)

18/11/10 - Pair sue for $200,000 lost in failed residency bid

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A Chinese woman and her adult son are trying to get back $200,000 they paid a company to guarantee them Niuean and then New Zealand residency permits that were never issued.

Guo Ping Luo and her Auckland-based son Jean (Jordan) Yang paid Astorwood Investments $180,000 and agents working for the company $20,000 to guarantee the permits for their family. It is alleged that Luo and Yang were advised by Eugene Yuqin Li and Haiming Xiong, who were agents of Astorwood and also friends of Luo and Yang's, that they would gain permanent residency permits if they invested $200,000 in the Niue Investor Migrant Programme.

In March 2008, Astorwood gave Luo and Yang assurance the money would be returned if the permits were denied. In May 2008, they paid Astorwood $180,000 to seal the deal.

Permits - which are alleged to be fake - were issued, but only for a 90-day period instead of the three-year residency permits that were promised. The money had not been returned and Luo is still living in China.

Last year, Luo and Yang successfully won a legal battle to freeze $200,000 of Astorwood's assets.

They filed further proceedings against Astorwood, director Richard Vesey, Yuqin Li and Xiong this year to get their money back. The hearing for that case ended yesterday when High Court Judge Geoffrey Venning reserved his decision.

Luo and Yang's lawyer Chris Patterson said his clients' sole aim for the investment in Niue was to gain New Zealand residency.

The Niue Government launched the scheme to raise capital for various projects and development opportunities around the island. In return for the money, investors were to gain a string of benefits including permanent residency. Astorwood signed an exclusive deal with the Government to source Chinese investors for the country. It has since ceased doing business with Niue.

Patterson said yesterday that there was no evidence the $200,000 had ever been invested into Niue and that Astorwood had never had the ability to acquire the residency permits.

The company was struck off by the Companies Office between August 25 and November 17, 2009.

Permanent residency in Niue does not guarantee residency in New Zealand; there are still procedures Niuean residents have to follow to legally work and live here.

(Source Kelly Gregor, NZ Herald)