Launch of Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy
ImmigrationSpeech notes for launch of Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy and Plan of Action.
Oceania Room, Te Papa, Wellington
(NB: Speech delivered by the Associate Immigration Minister, Hon Shane Jones)
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My parliamentary colleague, the Hon Luamanuvao Winnie Laban; Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast; Porirua Mayor Jenny Brash, Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy and Lower Hutt Mayor David Odgen; Fran Wilde, Chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council; Gary Poole, the Chief Executive of Wellington City Council; Max Perdersen, the Chief Executive of the Upper Hutt City Council; Roger Blakeley, Chief Executive of Porirua City Council and Project Sponsor for the Wellington Settlement Strategy; Christopher Blake, the Chief Executive of Department of Labour; representatives from community and business organisations around the Wellington region; special guests; ladies and gentlemen.
Good evening and welcome. I would like to pass on the apologies of the Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove who has been laid low by the flu and is unable to be here tonight. However as Associate Immigration Minister, it is my pleasure to present Mr Cosgrove’s speech on his behalf, for this launch of the Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy and Plan of Action for Wellington Regional Settlement.
This project has been almost a year in the making, and it is fantastic to see the Strategy’s wide range of programmes and services that will soon be on offer to help newcomers to the Wellington region settle, and more importantly, to settle well.
Immigration is very important to this region. According to the New Zealand Census 2006, out of the 410,000 residents who live in the Wellington region, almost 100,000 of them were born overseas – and of these overseas born people, more than 25,000 have settled here within the past five years. Most of these recent migrants - “newcomers” to the region - are of working age. They hold tremendous potential to improve things for this region - economically and socially.
As part of our economic transformation agenda, we need to attract and retain these newcomers to help build a dynamic regional economy. They bring fresh ideas, talents and skills. They connect us to the rest of the world and help us think and act globally. They spark entrepreneurial activity and generate fresh investment.
Newcomers also broaden and enrich our cultural diversity and understanding. The Wellington region for example now celebrates a diverse range of festivals including the Chinese New Year and Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, in addition to our own traditional New Zealand celebrations.
In an age of increasing global competition for skilled migrants, New Zealand must continue to have strategies in place that ensure the people who we choose to come here through our immigration policies, integrate well and stay. They need to feel welcome, and supported.
In January last year the first Regional Settlement Strategy was launched in Auckland, and positive results from that are already being seen. For example, the Office of Ethnic Affairs is now developing a guide to assist agencies in the recruitment of people from different languages and cultural backgrounds; the Health Ministry and Auckland District Health boards have increased investment in support services to migrants and refugees; and the Auckland Regional Council, together with other agencies, has implemented the first of a series of training programmes for frontline workers on intercultural awareness.
Today we demonstrate the momentum is continuing with the launch of the Wellington region’s Strategy and Plan of Action. Following in this path, Canterbury, which has a high migrant population, is working towards developing its own regional strategy.
These Strategies recognise that moving to a different country involves major adjustments and challenges. New Zealand has its own unique culture – from the sports we love, to the food we enjoy, and to how we see ourselves as kiwis and our place in the world.
What we as New Zealanders see as normal, can seem completely foreign, especially to newcomers with cultures, climates and customs so different from our own. For example the things we associate with our identity – such as our “number 8 wire mentality” - won’t mean much to newcomers to our shores.
However, as much as these Strategies are to introduce newcomers to our way of life and to help them adjust, it is also about welcoming the contributions they bring to our society.
As I mentioned, the latest census confirms New Zealand's growing diversity and our evolving identity as New Zealanders. Almost 1 in 4 residents in the Wellington region are overseas born.
It is critical that all New Zealand's peoples have a stake in our society and our economy. That is why it is important that we have local strategies, like this one, to respond to changing dynamics.
That is what this regional strategy is about. It is about how as a community we can make the best of the talents newcomers make available to us. How we can help them meet our critical skill shortages, create new business opportunities, add to the richness of our community life and, most importantly, settle here and lead fulfilling lives.
The Wellington region is one of the best places to live and work in the world. You enjoy a stunning natural setting and a quality of life that is world-class. It’s easy to get around and, wherever you are, you are never far from the sea, the hills, work and home.
The Wellington region attracts newcomers not only from around New Zealand – but especially from around the world - who want to take advantage of the work and lifestyle opportunities the region offers, and to call it home. Today is all about helping those newcomers to settle well in our communities and workplaces.
So what are the nuts and bolts of this Strategy and how will it work in practice?
The Strategy outlines a vision and goals to achieve improved settlement outcomes for the Wellington region over the next five years. It has three key components focusing on economic transformation, families young and old, and national identity.
The Strategy’s vision emphasises the two-way relationship involved in successful settlement. Everyone in the Wellington region has a role to play - whether it’s as individuals, businesses, employers, community organisations or central and local government. We can all offer a warm welcome and support for newcomers.
The Strategy supports their successful integration into the region, so they can become active participants in their new communities. Feeling settled speeds up the valuable contribution that newcomers make to New Zealand.
The Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy contributes to the implementation of the New Zealand Settlement Strategy, Our Future Together which calls for responsive settlement actions in the areas where newcomers settle.
Work started on The Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy in mid 2007 with the support of the Wellington Mayoral Forum representing the region’s five mayors.
That support was critical. It provided the foundation for the development of a comprehensive approach that integrates all the services available to newcomers on a regional basis.
It is also a good example of a successful partnership between central and local government. The Department of Labour – through its Settlement Division - has worked jointly with Wellington City Council acting on behalf of the other four territorial local authorities in the region: Hutt City, Kapiti Coast, Porirua City, and Upper Hutt. This team approach is the vital ingredient to this Strategy’s success.
The process involved extensive consultation first with newcomers themselves and then with local authorities, non-government organisations, iwi, business, central government agencies and established communities.
A number of barriers commonly faced by newcomers are identified in the Strategy. These include:
· Community acceptance
· Adjusting to a new way of life
· Accessing work opportunities
· English language support
· Access to settlement information
· Responsive services including interpreting
The Plan of Action for Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy includes a wide range of initiatives that propose to address these issues. Its work programme contains 33 actions. These respond to key opportunities identified for improving settlement outcomes in the Wellington region. Responsibility for leading individual actions is shared among the government, non-government and business sectors.
These actions will start from July this year and some examples include
· the establishment of a new regional employment service that will work with and connect employers and unemployed newcomers;
· a focus on the needs of the partners on newcomers – it is well known that lack of success in the migration process is often due to the isolation factors experienced by the partner who is left at home;
· the development of a regional website for newcomers to better access information;
· the development of information about our laws, safety issues and health system for newcomers to the region
· regional availability and accessibility of English language support
These are the kinds of new actions that will give effective and practical support for newcomers to the region.
The development of this Strategy also acknowledges the work that has already been done in the Wellington region for refugees, particularly through the Wellington Regional Action Plan for Refugee Health and Wellbeing. More than 600 refugees have been settled in the Wellington region in the past 6 years, as part of New Zealand’s refugee intake quota system.
The Strategy provides a common framework for achieving good settlement outcomes for all newcomers in the Wellington region including refugees.
The actions in the Health and Wellbeing Plan complement the work of the Strategy’s Plan of Action, and we look forward to seeing significant progress in the region as a result.
I would also like to acknowledge the role played in the Wellington region by Settlement Support New Zealand. There are now settlement support coordinators based in the Hutt Valley, Wellington and Porirua. These coordinators form part of a national network connecting newcomers with services in local communities.
The Settlement Support New Zealand initiative gives newcomers and their families a clear local point of contact to connect them with specialist settlement information and to help them access local services – as you are all well aware, all of these factors are important to newcomers when settling into a new community.
In closing, it is my great pleasure to formally launch the Wellington Regional Settlement Strategy and Plan of Action for Wellington Regional Settlement.
This Strategy is a living document. It will be reviewed as part of an on-going cycle to ensure that it remains up-to-date, strategically focused and relevant to settlement needs in the Wellington region - to the benefit of all New Zealanders and those who make this country their new home.
I am confident that these initiatives will make a valuable and significant contribution to the Government’s overarching settlement responsiveness framework – the New Zealand Settlement Strategy.
I acknowledge the past and future efforts of a huge range of individuals, communities and agencies who will see that this complex work indeed supports good settlement outcomes – for newcomers to Wellington region and for all of us.
My thanks to all those who have contributed to this process. Your commitment and enthusiasm will be invaluable as this Strategy is implemented in the years ahead.