Somewhat of a leap to espouse this debate in simple "left versus right terms".It is possible to have an enlightened refugee policy and still advocate greatly lower immigration rate.We bring in hundreds of thousands of permanent migrants annually but there is a huge hidden category of temporary migrants, 457 visa holders, working holiday and bridging visa holders, many of whom end up staying permanently. There are over 2 million temporary visa holders at present of which 35% are from NZ.Refugees make up a tiny % of our population increase but they cop all the flack.The biggest mistake the Greens ever made was not having a population policy and advocating lower OVERALL immigration on ecological and climate change grounds.Instead we have become bogged down over refugee policy and missed the big picture.
