I don't think Winston Peters hates immigrants or immigration.

After all, he has a thickly accented English deputy leader and he has made no complaint about the bulk of immigrants to this country – people from wealthy Western nations.

I also doubt that his concern is immigrants who don't fit into the local culture. After all European descendants are not renowned for adapting themselves to local custom, and haven't much in this country.

What does concern him is immigration from Asia, the Middle-East and Africa, and more sadly, refugees fleeing torture and murder by oppressive regimes. I guess that is because they are an easy target, clearly distinguishable from the predominant Pakeha population.

It's an age old trick, depressing in that it works every time. It relies on drawing together a number of different concerns in order to inflame people.

Some feel threatened by people whose culture is visibly different. They feel undermined by signs of cultural diversity that don't reinforce their dominance. Witness the hostility to Auckland University building a couple of squat toilets in their new complex, perhaps to accommodate international students, perhaps because they are healthier and more hygienic. Squat toilets undermine Western values, to the same degree that frontbums and queers in positions of power undermine JT's masculinity.

Some people are concerned about immigration because of its effect on land and house prices, although foreign ownership is arguably a more significant factor.

A number of Maori are concerned about the reduction of their numerical proportion in society through immigration policies over which they have no control. Some are also concerned that their status as tangata whenua is undermined by the view that they are 'just another minority'. Indeed that is exactly what is behind some people’s assertions that New Zealand is a multicultural, rather than bicultural, nation.

Of course we are far from being either. We are still basically mono-cultural, though increasingly multi-ethnic. We have yet to come to grips with the rights and responsibilities that Maori carry as tangata whenua, or how to accommodate non-western cultures into our very Anglo way of life.

How would Winston Peters fix it? His finger-pointing at Iraqi immigrants and refugees will almost certainly make it harder for them to be accepted either into this country, or by this country.

Perhaps there are undesirables sneaking through the net. I can't help thinking, though, that if security was the main concern of Winston First MP's, they would be giving the immigration authorities everything they have rather than stringing the country out in a clever media game.

When the government said this in parliament, Winston's cheerleaders shouted that the government should do its own work. True, but I do wonder where he gets his info. Perhaps disgruntled right-wingers within the immigration service?

Media speculation is that the leaks come from within the Iraqi and other refugee communities. Maybe so, but I wouldn't take his word for it. Winston needs to create a false trail, especially if officials are involved. I also know what people in the Middle Eastern community, at least the ones I have spoken to, think of him.

I have heard enough accusations of racism within the immigration service to think that it a possible explanation. Many of those complaints come from black and coloured South Africans who claim that their applications are delayed while white South Africans are approved with ease.

As an aside, Mr Peters has never complained about white South Africans coming into this country, at least to my knowledge. How many members of the apartheid regime's police, security services or prison department are in Aotearoa since the rule of racism ended? Surely they are as undesirable as any Baathist?

Immigration does need to be debated properly. Immigration policy is driven by a belief that we need more people in this country, leading to bigger domestic markets, increased consumption and economic growth leading to a profitable corporatist economy.

Others say we need to better understand the capacity of Aotearoa to sustain life. We need to ask what is a sustainable population size, and a sustainable way for it to live. We need to ensure that migrants receive adequate support to become contributing citizens of Aotearoa, with an understanding of New Zealand society, our environment and the Treaty of Waitangi. We also need to engage with tangata whenua.

The Greens say we should celebrate diversity and express tolerance and respect. That is the opposite of Mr Peter's intention.



Is the immigration debate just a shroud for racism?

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