Ethnic leaders in New Zealand are repeating their calls for greater participation in shaping government policy. They have already met with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and on 10 October met with Opposition leader Chris Hipkins and several senior members of the Labour Party. Specific concerns The ethnic leaders told Hipkins and his cohorts they are Read more
Few American cities face a more daunting homeless crisis than San Francisco, where on any given day 38,000 people walk the streets and settle into doorways and back alleys without food or shelter. On top of that challenge, the Bay Area is home to a rapidly growing immigrant population from a host of countries, whose Read more
Secondary school rolls all over the country are bursting. Catholic schools and state schools alike. There’s been a steady increase in roll numbers, according to the Ministry of Education. Immigrants boost school rolls An immigration-driven surge in enrolments is adding to the pressure. The national school roll is now topping 831,038 children. In Invercargill, Catholic Read more
Migration into New Zealand is still running at record levels, and could top a net migration gain of 100,000 in a year within the next few months, one economist says. Stats NZ said there was a record net migration gain of 96,200 in the year to July. It said it was driven by net gains Read more
Pope Francis has returned from touring Hungary, a bastion of European conservatism, where his mixed messaging is seemingly at odds with national sentiment. At a Mass celebrated Sunday in Budapest, His Holiness called on the Hungarian government — led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President Katalin Novák, both Christian, neither Catholic — to loosen Read more
NZ immigration websites have been hit by thousands of visits from US citizens since the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion law. The Court struck down a 50 year old decision (called Roe v. Wade). That decision legalised abortion on a federal basis. The upshot is individual states can now ban the procedure. Since the Supreme Read more
By the end of this year, the country will have more new residents than any other year on record. Almost 200,000 people have now applied to become residents under the fast-track visa, and one in four has been approved. Immigration figures show New Zealand has created more residents in the last six months than any Read more
The pope’s visit to migrants and asylum seekers in Ħal Far has sparked outrage among many Facebook users who rejected his appeal for charity and overwhelmingly told him to take migrants back with him to the Vatican. During his two-day visit to Malta, the pontiff visited the Peace Lab in Ħal Far where he met Read more
Restauranters and café owners in New Zealand turned off their lights this week highlighting their staff shortages and inability to bring in labour from overseas. It is a labour shortage echoed by a local priest! “I wonder if I should turn out the lights in Church on Sunday?” he asked. The priest does not want Read more
The state of our national game, and what is best for its future, has generated a lot of recent debate. But there are some contributing factors that might not have had the attention they deserve. The demography of New Zealand is changing, with major implications for rugby, especially for player participation. The impacts of immigration Read more