Supplied/Helen Houghton-Conservatives. NZ
Calls are growing for an independent investigation into whether New Zealand’s immigration and migrant-employment settings are creating unintended barriers for local workers and encouraging recruitment patterns centred on particular overseas labour markets.
New Zealanders have a right to expect that our immigration system is working in the interests of New Zealand, our workers, our businesses, and the migrants who come here.
I am calling for an independent investigation into New Zealand’s immigration and migrant-employment system over the past decade, including the rapid growth in temporary and permanent migration and the operation of the Accredited Employer Work Visa system.
The investigation should specifically examine what happens when migrant-owned businesses are purchased or established in New Zealand and whether there are patterns of businesses subsequently recruiting predominantly or exclusively from the owner’s country of origin.
This is not an attack on Indian people, Indian businesses, or any other ethnic community. New Zealand welcomes people who come here legally, contribute to our economy, and abide by our laws.
But immigration policy must be transparent, fair, and enforceable.
If a New Zealand business is genuinely unable to recruit suitable workers locally, there should be a legitimate pathway to recruit internationally. However, we need to know whether the system is sometimes being used in ways that disadvantage New Zealand workers, distort competition between businesses, or create employment networks that are effectively closed to people outside a particular ethnic or national community.
What Should the Investigation Examine?
- The number and type of New Zealand businesses purchased by migrant owners over the past ten years.
- Whether business purchases have subsequently been associated with significant increases in migrant recruitment.
- The countries of origin of workers recruited by those businesses.
- Whether recruitment is occurring predominantly from one particular country or community.
- Whether suitably qualified New Zealand citizens and residents are being given genuine opportunities to apply for those positions.
- Whether job-check and labour-market requirements are being properly applied.
- Whether there is evidence of exploitation, visa breaches, sham employment arrangements, or immigration fraud.
- Whether immigration settings are creating unintended incentives for businesses to recruit from particular overseas labour markets.
- Whether current monitoring and enforcement are sufficient to protect both migrant workers and New Zealand workers.
Immigration New Zealand itself recognises that migrant exploitation and employer non-compliance are significant issues. Employers must comply with immigration and employment law, and migrant workers have the same minimum employment rights as New Zealand workers.
There have already been serious cases requiring intervention. In 2025, for example, a Paeroa employer was fined $159,250 after two Indian migrant workers were found to have been exploited, with more than $158,000 in unpaid wages and entitlements identified. Immigration New Zealand has also reported more than 300 immigration employment infringement notices since the scheme was introduced in 2024.
These cases demonstrate why proper scrutiny matters.
If there is no systemic problem, an independent investigation should demonstrate that.
If there is a problem, New Zealanders deserve to know about it and the Government should act.
Our immigration system should support genuine businesses, genuine migrants, and genuine skills shortages while protecting New Zealand workers, maintaining fair competition, and ensuring that the rules apply equally to everyone.
The answer is not prejudice. The answer is transparency, evidence, and enforcement.
