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Maori attitudes toward immigrants have hardened in recent years, a university study has found.
The Massey University report also said New Zealanders were generally ambivalent about the impact of immigration.
The study was the outcome of questions asked of 750 people last year and 1100 in 2003.
Massey sociology Professor Paul Spoonley, one of the authors of the report, said in the latest Massey News that though there was no dramatic changes between 2003 and 2006, Maori attitudes to immigration had hardened.
Maori were more likely than non-Maori to agree that Chinese, other Asians and Pacific peoples take jobs away from people born here.
However, they were much less likely to agree that those immigrant groups increased crime rates.
"New Zealanders generally were still quite ambivalent about immigrants," Prof Spoonley said.
"We like the diverse food and we like what they're doing to our economy by contributing skills and capital but [we] also see immigrants as sticking together rather than integrating, and that is seen as a negative thing."
He added attitudes to immigrants and various aspects of immigrations were usually more negative among Aucklanders than other New Zealanders.
- NZPA
