Editorial: Never mind the diaspora, bring in skill

When this Government was first elected, Jim Anderton said the message could go out to New Zealanders living abroad that it was safe to come home now. It would have been a good crack had he not seriously believed it. Presumably not many, or not enough, found the invitation irresistible, for five years later Minister of Labour and Immigration Paul Swain is about to repeat it. In an attempt to meet the increasing shortage of skills in an expanding economy, Mr Swain has told the Herald he will soon announce an official campaign to bring expatriates back.

"There's a lot of Kiwis who have been away for maybe longer than five years who do not know exactly what's happened here," he said. "The fact that we have got a booming economy, the fact that we have skill shortages, the fact that we need them home." Research indicated that apart from All Black wins, little information filtered through to expatriate New Zealanders.

There is always a tendency in politics to imagine that national fortunes loom as large in people's lives as they do in Parliament Buildings. Mr Swain, like Mr Anderton before him, needs to get out more. Expatriates make their decisions to stay overseas for all sorts of reasons, personal and professional, that will be more significant to them than the state of New Zealand. Even those who cite the economy or politics as reasons for their departure are often merely using those as pretexts lest those they are leaving behind think them unpatriotic.

When the time comes that they consider returning here, they will of course be very interested in the economy, but not until they are ready to return. It is most unlikely that an official promotion will prompt many to make a decision they would not otherwise have made. A campaign to alert them to the strong economy they would find here might be warm and comforting for the Government in an election year but it will do little to fill the real skill shortages that are beginning to threaten the economy's continued health.

Skill shortages affect not only the industries that need them, they represent, in Reserve Bank parlance, a "capacity constraint" that spells inflation unless the bank raises interest rates to curb general activity. So the entire economy faces an enforced slowdown unless the Government takes steps to improve the supply of skilled people. The way to improve that supply quickly is to open the door more widely to suitably qualified immigrants. But that can be politically contentious, especially in election year.

So, while Mr Swain says he is opening the door a little - at least to the extent of urging the Immigration Service to deal more speedily with applications - he is placing too much hope in this appeal to the diaspora. He says he is investigating creative ways to encourage families here, particularly grandparents, to help to bring their offspring back. How likely is that? Meanwhile, the skilled migrant quota, which we are struggling to fill this year, will not be reviewed until next year, safely past the election.

For the past three years an average of 26,000 expatriates have returned each year, a number that roughly equals the tally of immigrants granted residency so far in this fiscal year. Unless something drastic happens the year's target of 50,000 skilled migrants is unlikely to be met. Something drastic needs to happen. Rules may need to be relaxed.

It is absurd, for example, that a man who has been here 12 years, employed as a chef in a top hotel, is now in Mt Eden prison waiting to be deported because he has been ruled not to be a genuine refugee. It is absurd that firms should be frustrated by red tape and delays when they hire skilled people to come here.

Mr Swain should leave the expatriates to their plans - it is valuable to have a diaspora after all - and issue an urgent invitation to skilled people from anywhere who really want to live here.