A bit of a spike

Radio NZ’s Gill Bonnett has taken a look at immigration figures and found New Zealand has created more residents in the last six months than any year in the last decade. Bonnett reports that until last year “the government’s ‘planning range’ for new residents amounted to an annual target of between 33,000 and 40,000.” Almost 200,000 people have applied to become residents under the fast-track visa scheme and one in four have been approved. Applications for the scheme close in July and the number of potential residents is already beyond the government’s estimates by 30,000 people.