Immigrants could face Treaty test

Auckland Regional council is urging the Government to give it a say in national immigration policy - including introducing Treaty of Waitangi tests for immigrants.

The council says it should have a bigger say in immigration policy because most new Kiwis live in the region.

It says many of Auckland's problems with housing, infrastructure and overflowing schools have been caused by erratic immigration policies.

Regional planning and strategy committee chairman Paul Walbran said the council was also concerned that too many immigrants were flocking to Auckland, rather than other areas.

"We are saying to government if there is not some guidance about where settlement patterns happen, then Auckland will become overloaded," he said.

"Immigration is already a contributing component to traffic congestion here and the load that has been placed on other infrastructure is unsustainable."

Mr Walbran said the council also believed that migrants needed to be more aware of cultural issues, including a knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi and human rights legislation, particularly regarding women and children.

It has suggested a simple test, before citizenship is granted. "This is not an effort to be politically correct and we don't want immigrants to be Kiwi clones," said Mr Walbran. "But immigrants should have a general understanding about important factors that make up the Kiwi way of life and the Treaty is part of that."

Immigration consultants believe such a test would put up a "hopeless barrier".

Bill Milnes, director of Access Immigration NZ, described the proposal as ludicrous.

"It's like a New Zealand journalist going to work for National Geographic in the United States and being expected to study a treaty with Sioux Indians signed 150 years ago at the same time they are trying to organise moving family, shifting house, visa processes, police checks and negotiating with employers."

South African immigrant and Auckland lawyer Prajna Moodley has welcomed the suggestion, but wants to see it extended to all New Zealanders.

It was hypocritical to expect new migrants to pass such a test, when many New Zealand were either ambivalent or hostile about such issues, he said.

Dr Ranginui Walker, formerly Professor of Maori Studies at the University of Auckland and a leader of the Auckland and NZ Maori Councils, has also accused the council of hypocrisy.

It would be far more beneficial to Maori people if councils required candidates standing for local body elections to undergo training on the Treaty of Waitangi.

"What's the point of creating this if there's no way of enforcing it? That's why I suspect such a plan is just a little bit of window dressing to make the council look good."

The Department of Labour, which deals with immigration, did not want to comment on the issue.

However, deputy secretary Mary Anne Thompson said it was working closely with Auckland's local government agencies, including the regional council, on settlement issues.

Ms Thompson said Auckland attracted the most migrants because it was New Zealand's biggest city with greater work opportunities. In the year to June, 38 per cent of skilled migrants with a job settled in the region.

The department already encouraged skilled migrants to settle outside Auckland by allocating extra points if they lived elsewhere in New Zealand, she said.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY