Other nationalities were also targeted in times of labour shortage - Scandinavians and Germans last century and the Dutch in the 1950s as postwar New Zealand sought to rebuild industries.
Unassisted migrants from other northwest European countries, Canada and the United States also had unrestricted access.
Officially, it was a traditional-source-country regime based on compatible work skills - effectively it was a white New Zealand policy.
The Chinese brought out for the Otago gold rush so panicked the populace that Parliament passed no fewer than 11 acts from 1881 to 1921 to regulate their entry and those of other Asian races viewed as inferior.
Sir George Grey vilified Chinese workers as the "yellow peril" threatening to flood the country, although there were only 5004 Chinese here in 1881 - 1 per cent of the population. That figure halved by 1906 after punitive measures such as a 10 poll tax.
In 1920 Chinese immigration was effectively stopped when entry was made conditional on ministerial discretion without explanation.
But in 1974, New Zealand's cloistered world started to change. The year before, Britain had entered the European Economic Community, cutting NZ trade and visitor access.
In retaliation and because the economy was in recession, Prime Minister Norman Kirk imposed entry permits for all Commonwealth citizens of European descent.
The entry test required a combination of good skills and qualifications, good health and sterling character, and not more than four dependent children.
The 1970s did see a large influx of Pacific Island migrants, recruited for Auckland factories and low-skill occupations. But their settlement was unofficial - a blind eye was turned to those overstaying their permits until the decade's oil shocks rocked the manufacturing base and led to the infamous dawn raids.
Essentially, the policy remained white New Zealand until the 1986 immigration review.
An occupational priority list had been introduced before then to target specific skill gaps, but it retained a preference for traditional source countries. As globalisation increased and migrants became better qualified, that was increasingly seen as racist.
The 1986 review finally abolished national origin as a factor, and replaced it with an assessment of personal qualities, skills, qualifications and potential contribution to New Zealand. It also opened up family reunion and entrepreneur categories.
The Immigration Minister in the 1981-84 National Government, Aussie Malcolm, says the review had strong cross-party support because it followed the thrust of a working party he had set up.
But the advent of Rogernomics overtook a logical and balanced policy and pushed it towards the non-interventionist model, with particular encouragement for Asian migrants. National, with Sir William Birch at the immigration helm, took the model a step further in the early 1990s, setting up the points system framework still used today.
Applicants need to reach a set number of points for qualifications, work experience, age, funds, etc.
Sir William says the system was based on a successful Australian model, and was designed to put immigration on a more transparent, less subjective, merit-based footing.
Mr Malcolm believes the system was simply driven by the Treasury numbers game - the desire to measure inputs and outputs saw numerical values put on migrants.
He argues that while the system has removed any racial element, it has narrowed the profile of those coming here in other ways.
In the main approval category of general skills, the points weighting for a tertiary degree, a career path using that degree and youth all tend to favour "the sort of people that would get into Treasury."
Although a three-year trade certificate gets the same points as a university degree, the reality is that many tradesmen who did not go to qualification-approved courses are excluded.
Mr Malcolm uses as an example a middle-aged expert Italian mosaic tile layer and a Russian nuclear physicist who helped to design Chernobyl. The tile layer's qualifications do not meet the New Zealand requirements and he is ruled out.
The physicist gets in, but ends up driving a taxi because there are no jobs for physicists. The tile layer stays home, despite a shortage of experienced tile layers for Remuera renovations.
"They are really saying an ideal migrant is a young, university-educated person with a simplistic career and money. In other words, you are looking at the urban middle class."
In the past, says Mr Malcolm, New Zealand benefited from the working class who strove long and hard to build careers, families and communities.
"The most successful migrants historically have been the battlers, and I'm not certain the migrants here will be battlers and I'm not certain they will stay."
Those with varied careers or artistic and sporting prowess without recognised qualifications would fail under the points system.
Mr Malcolm strongly favours immigration being a more interventionist portfolio where the minister can make decisions based on flexible guidelines. The voters would judge the minister's performance.
"Immigration is about building communities. If you set up an idealistic, numbers-based policy, at the end of the day what you finish up with is physicists driving taxis at the same time as you can't get tiling done in Remuera."
How the points system works
For the general category, which makes up almost half the residence approvals, points are awarded for employability, age and ability to settle.
The pass mark fluctuates weekly, depending on the Immigration Service's progress towards its 35,000 approvals target, but for the past six months it has stayed on 24.
Points are awarded for:
Qualifications (minimum 10 points)
10 points for a recognised three-year degree, diploma or trade certificate.
11 points for an advanced qualification.
12 points for a master's degree or higher.
2 extra points for a New Zealand qualification.
Work Experience (minimum 1 point)
1 point for two years' experience, rising to 10 points for 20 years' experience. If there is no job offer, work experience must be relevant to qualifications.
Job Offer
5 points for the offer of a fulltime, permanent job.
Age
A scale starting at 8 points for those aged 18-24; 10 points for 25-29-year-olds; 8 points for 30-34; 6 for 35-39; 4 for 40-44; 2 for 45-49; 0 for 50-55.
Settlement factors
1 point for $100,000 in settlement funds; 2 points for $200,000.
Up to 2 points for recognised spouse qualifications.
Up to 2 points for New Zealand work experience.
3 points for sponsorship by a family member in New Zealand.
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