Section 2: Introduction

In April 2006 the Minister of Immigration released a discussion paper on a review of the 1987 Act. The discussion paper set out the Government's objectives for the review and presented options and proposals for legislative change. The Minister invited interested members of the public to make submissions on the proposals and to participate in stakeholder meetings, which were held over the following two months.

This document summarises the submissions that were made. In total, 360 unique submissions were received from individuals and organisations representing a range of interests including:

• immigration consultants
• ethnic councils
• refugee and migrant communities
• human rights groups
• law societies
• community law centres
• other community groups
• employers and businesses
• business and industry representatives
• unions
• airlines
• the education sector
• local authorities, and
• political parties.

A number of submissions were signed by many individuals, particularly submissions received from New Zealand's Pacific communities. In total, 3,985 people signed a submission either on behalf of an organisation or as a private individual. Views expressed at the 19 public meetings, attended by over 650 people in May and June 2006, are also reflected in this report.

The following sections of this report provide a brief summary of the proposals, indicate the approximate level of support for each proposal or option, and set out the range of comments made in response to each of the questions asked in the discussion paper. For ease of reference, the numbering of sections is consistent with the numbering used in the discussion paper. Further information on the consultation process is set out in Appendix A. Information on the analysis of submissions is set out in Appendix B. A list of submitters is attached as Appendix C.

In addition to public consultation, a number of government agencies have been involved in the development of the review, including: The Ministries of Justice, and Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of Internal Affairs, the New Zealand Customs Service, and the New Zealand Police.

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