NZ First followers lap up policy

By FRANCESCA MOLD

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters wants to slash the number of immigrants "flooding" into New Zealand to 10,000, less than a fifth of the current rate.

Mr Peters launched his party's election campaign yesterday from the Tauranga seat he won by just 63 votes last time.

He detailed New Zealand First's plans to campaign on three key issues - immigration, law and order and the Treaty of Waitangi.

He sparked the most excitement among the crowd of 550 mostly elderly supporters, packed into the downtown Baycourt conference centre, with his promise to stop ordinary Kiwis being swamped by an "out of control" flood of immigrants.

At a press conference after the launch, Mr Peters said immigration rates should be cut from the 53,000 presently given permanent residence to less than 10,000 a year.

New Zealanders should be alarmed by the fact that one in 5 residents was born overseas, he said.

Mr Peters said he would "fix" immigration laws so migrants would be required to bring economic benefit to New Zealand. A three-year probation period would be instituted so that any migrants who committed a crime carrying a jail term as punishment would be deported.

There would also be severe penalties for those who tried to evade entry rules, he said.

Mr Peters said opening the door to large numbers of immigrants contributed to problems such as traffic gridlocks in Auckland. Too many immigrants caused a drain on schools and the health system and boosted inflation and interest rates.

The benefits could not be quantified, he said.

Mr Peters ramped up his supporters' emotions by raising concerns that almost a sixth of New Zealand's HIV/Aids sufferers were immigrants from Africa.

Some in the crowd "tsk tsked" and muttered "send them home" in response.

Mr Peters denied suggestions from the media, after his speech, that he was whipping up racial fear. He said the figures about HIV were not a scare tactic, they were a sad reality.

He criticised the immigration service for allowing people into the country without screening them for infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis.

Several Peters' supporters told the Herald his stance on immigration was a key reason he would win their vote. Norma Cook, who travelled from Manakau Peninsula with a busload of supporters, agreed strongly with NZ First's immigration policy.

"He's quite correct. We can't keep bringing them in when we have no jobs. My grandchildren can't get jobs, not because they don't want to but because immigrants are taking them."

In yesterday's speech, Mr Peters said New Zealand had become a crime ridden, ill-disciplined and violent society. Police numbers needed to be boosted and punishment toughened.

Mr Peters sparked a huge response from the audience when he called for the introduction of military or community service for the young unemployed and first-time offenders.

He also promised to "derail" the racially divisive Treaty of Waitangi industry. He said the treaty had been perverted and hijacked to the advantage of a few. He described the treaty as a "dangerous, insidious and destructive cancer" affecting the heart of New Zealand's constitution and legal system.

He condemned the Government for failing to answer questions about what the Treaty of Waitangi actually meant.

He slammed National's promise to settle treaty claims by 2008, saying they had previously promised to achieve the same goal by 2000 but had failed.

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