Venkat Raman
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones has reduced his tone against the Indian community but has called for a serious, nationwide discussion to put in place a robust Population Policy.
He is also concerned with the exploitation of migrant workers and international students, including those of Indian origin.
He conceded that he was singling out ‘people from India,’ whereas he meant the Diaspora.
“I take your point that you want your community to be treated in a compassionate way because all communities have bad eggs it is not the entire community,” he said during an exclusive with Indian Newslink this morning.
Processed by Ravi Nyayapati for Indian Newslink
Racist rants
Mr Jones has been widely criticised by politicians on both sides of the divide and members of various communities for his recent outburst singling out the Indian community.
His comments on ‘Indian students from New Delhi destroying our educational institutions’ were not only seen as outrageous but far from the truth.
Mr Jones conceded that his vocabulary may sound muscular but maintained that New Zealand has for too long allowed ‘too much immigration.’
“I am willing to take it on the chin that some of my language is bombastic,” he said but insisted that unchecked flow of migrants was not helping anyone.
Mr Jones wanted all New Zealanders to think of population growth and the attendant pressure on the infrastructure and public services.
According to him, there are hundreds of thousands of Pakehas and Maori are worried that in a remarkably short period of time, not necessarily only through immigration, our population has reached to five million.
‘Population explosion’
“If we continue through excessive immigration, we will be 8 to 9 million people by 2050. I am implacably opposed to that. I am a Maori and I will not dilute my constitutional rights of my own right. I don’t think that we can walk back from the fact from people who have for a lot longer than me; people like (former Immigration Minister) David Cunliffe and the caucuses in the Labour Party have been deeply concerned about how low-skilled, temporary migration has been used to such an extent that in my view they represent a major problem and it threatens social cohesion,” he said.
When contacted, Mr Cunliffe distanced himself from Mr Jones’ remarks.
Serious concerns
Mr Jones said that Population Policy would be a major issue for NZ First in the coming election.
“I want to put forward a Population Policy and the role of Immigration in that Policy and the ongoing problems that we see as unaddressed far too long both, for the treatment of the Indian language students and the ongoing awful conduct chartered out through the courses, where a lot of these students are being treated of what I consider to be in medieval fashion,” he said.
He said that short term migration should be frozen, until such time we have the social infrastructure and “we are confident that the ongoing activities that goes with exploitation, whether it is Pakehas doing to indian employees or people within the community.”
“The gene is out of the Bootle,” he said.
Worsening exploitation
Mr Jones said that New Zealand received about 20,000 people and that the prospects of exploitation have worsened because of their vulnerable status.
He said that New Zealand employers had addicted to ‘this type of labour flow,’ and that the emerging issues will undermine social cohesion.
Mr Jones said that he is a product of biculturalism.
“I do understand that I want to say do rankle and they offend the multicultural advocates and indeed some in the Indian community. My vocabulary has been dismissed as too muscular and overblown. But I say to you Sir, that in this election, we will take this issue forward. I am willing to take it on the chin that some of my language is bombastic but I want to say to you that I am a politician whose ancestry goes back a 1000 years in this country and I want people to focus on the lingering and continuing problems that wash up in our district court and in our high court and leaders of the Indian ethnic community and leaders like yourself cannot walk away from that,” Mr Jones said.
