Making hay while the sun shines: envisioning New Zealand’s state-diaspora relations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26686/pq.v3i4.4234Keywords:
Kiwi Expatriate Association (Kea), emigrants, non-citizen Māori, Treaty of Waitangi, net migration, Growth and Innovation Framework strategy (GIF)Abstract
The diaspora is a long-term feature of New Zealand’s migration system and its political landscape. Yet the New Zealand government does not have a coherent approach towards it. Why not? It cannot be because nothing important is happening: around 850 New Zealanders emigrate in the average week, and around one in five New Zealanders now lives abroad. Moreover, while not a first-order policy issue in itself, this is important across a range of policy areas, and occasionally requires urgent government attention. A more likely explanation for the absence of coherence is that New Zealand still sees itself as a migrant-receiving country, and that the diaspora has been a political hot potato, making level-headed debate difficult.
Downloads
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Permission: In the interest of promoting debate and wider dissemination, the IGPS encourages use of all or part of the articles appearing in PQ, where there is no element of commercial gain. Appropriate acknowledgement of both author and source should be made in all cases. The IGPS retains copyright. Please direct requests for permission to reprint articles from this publication to igps@vuw.ac.nz.
