Shane Jones must be ecstatic about the ongoing accusations of racism. Barry Soper brings some perspective to the debate:
Let’s get some perspective on what Jones actually said to Newshub’s The Nation.
“If you want another million, two million, three million people, we should debate it and there should be a mandate, rather than opening up the options, unfettered, and everyone comes here from New Delhi.
“I don’t like that idea at all. I think the number of students that have come from India have ruined many institutions.”
Gee, when you read past the headlines it turns out what he said isn’t that bad.
Jacinda Ardern was furious it seems, telling the Indian Weekender if voters didn’t like what he said then they can let him know at the ballot box. Now that was surely cutting her nose off to spite her face, given Labour may come to depend on Jones taking out the Northland seat if it has a chance of staying in power.
Jacinda Ardern will probably see that the comments from Shane Jones will have increased NZ First’s support. Soper then brings some pesky little facts to the argument.
So have Indian students coming here ruined institutions?
At the end of 2016 Labour’s tertiary education spokesman, David Cunliffe, said the Key Government allowed “visa factories” to flourish, turning New Zealand into a supermarket for low-grade diplomas which do nothing to solve this country’s real skills shortages.
At the same time Darren Conway, chief executive of Languages International, told us he’d campaigned for years against dishonest practises [sic] in the sector. He said it was obvious that some schools cannot be running an honest operation because their fees are too low to cover the cost of teaching, let alone other overheads.
But Conway argued students were often partly responsible for their own plight. He said it was relatively easy for desperate Indian students and their families to get around the rule that requires them to have $15,000 in the bank before they come here.
They were cobbling that money together from family and friends but once they got the visa they turned up with no money – which made them vulnerable to exploitation.
The now-defunct school, the International Academy of New Zealand (IANZ), was passing students it should have failed.
So Labour previously made this an issue, but now the Prime Minister is aghast?
And for good measure, he adds some more facts to the argument that are rather embarrassing for the Prime Minister.
Figures released to the Labour Party at the time under the Official Information Act showed more than 1300 work visas were issued to IANZ’s students over two years when government agencies were aware of the problems.
How inconvenient.
Jones admits he’s on the immigration bandwagon with the blessing of his kaumatua Winston Peters which is always the case in the lead-up to an election.
So that bowhead whale will come up for air before too long, you can count on it.
There are plenty of votes from crotchety old folks who reminisce about how things used to be. They aren’t enamoured with the growth of suburban liquor stores with poor employment practises and are unlikely to use Uber. What they do, however, is vote, and Shane Jones and NZ First know that.