Dalziel seeking Australian help to control 'rogues'

New Zealand is seeking Australian help in weeding out rogue immigration consultants who bring migrants in by the back door and do nothing to help them settle here.

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel said yesterday that she had discussed with her transtasman counterpart, Philip Ruddock, expanding Australia's regulatory authority to cover New Zealand.

Australia operates a system of statutory self-regulation for immigration consultants, which is overseen by the Migration Agents Registration Authority.

The authority oversees the registration and conduct of immigration authorities, and acts as a disciplinary body.

New Zealand has no such organisation, but Ms Dalziel said officials on both sides of the Tasman were discussing whether the Australian body could cover both countries.

The move would not be without precedent. New Zealand and Australia already share the same food safety authority.

Ms Dalziel said she believed planned changes to the skilled migrants category to match professionals to labour shortages and encourage them away from Auckland would go some way towards stopping rogue operators because local government and businesses would have a vested interest in ensuring migrants were well-settled and in good jobs.

But she preferred regulation to actively weeding out cowboy consultants who charged high fees but did little more than advise immigrants on how to obtain visas, providing no support once they were in New Zealand.

- NZPA