Early Policies

Settlement Companies and Provincial Governments. Schemes for the encouragement of emigration to New Zealand began with the early settlement companies. The original proposals of the New Zealand Company for the sale of land in Wellington stated that 75 per cent of the purchase money was to be applied to the costs of emigration. This was reduced to 50 per cent by the Imperial Government's New Zealand Company's Colonisation Act 1847. The Otago Association allocated three-eighths and the Canterbury Association one-third.

For many years the principal inducements offered to immigrants continued to be associated with the grant or sale of land. In 1855 the Central Government promulgated regulations which remitted part of the purchase money for land to retired British naval and army officers – a concession later extended to all ranks. The Auckland Provincial Council in 1855 provided certain lands free of cost to retired members of the forces, and also to other emigrants in proportion to their outlay on emigration. By the Auckland Waste Lands Act 1858, land was to be set apart exclusively for sale to emigrants, and emigration agents were to be appointed in the United Kingdom with authority to grant land orders to persons who wished to emigrate to the Province of Auckland. Other Provincial Councils passed similar legislation.

A scheme much in favour in the sixties and seventies was the promotion of “special settlements”. Each comprised a block of undeveloped rural land, for the settlement of which a contract was let. The contractor usually undertook to introduce emigrants from the United Kingdom to settle the land. Among the special settlements which were established successfully were the areas in and around Foxton, Feilding, Palmerston North, Featherston, Dannevirke, Norsewood, Te Puke, Te Aroha, Katikati (Tauranga), Whangarei, Catlins River, Mataura, Kaipara, and Oakura (Taranaki).

Government Policies to 1890. The Central Government took little direct action to foster immigration in the early years of the colony. In 1862, however, Sir George Grey had some correspondence with a German company which requested him to accept some 500 German immigrants in Taranaki, but negotiations broke down. The following year a Danish company negotiated with the Government for 150 Danish immigrants to settle in the Waikato on the promise by the Government of grants of land and payment of half the passage money. The same year the Government decided to promote a larger European population in the belief that strong settlements in the North Island were essential for the preservation of peace with the Maoris. Labourers, mechanics, small farmers, and “capitalists” were sought. The first two classes were offered free passage money and a few acres of land, or half the passage money and a larger land area. To encourage land development and attract farmers, the Government offered suitable men a free grant of land not exceeding 500 acres. An Immigration Advisory Board was established in England, and £200,000 was earmarked for immigration in 1864, increased to £600,000 in 1865.

In 1869, under the New Zealand Commissioners Act, I. E. Featherston and Francis Dillon Bell went to England to negotiate with the British Government on a variety of subjects including the planning of an organised and selective immigration programme. In the following year, as part of the Vogel scheme, there followed the Immigration and Public Works Act, envisaging an extensive programme of railways and road development financed by loans. Adjacent lands were to be opened up for settlement as the railways and roads were pushed ahead. The works programme was accordingly linked to a virile immigration programme to provide the labour for the works and the settlers for the land. The Act enabled £1,000,000 to be set aside for immigration. Immigrants were to be of two types: (a) those selected in the United Kingdom by the Agent-General, and (b) persons living there who were nominated by New Zealand residents. Immigrants were originally required to pay a small portion of the fare, but from 1873 free passages were offered. The 1870 Act required cooperation between the Central Government and the provinces but as this proved to be lacking, in 1871 a second Act enabled the Government to act alone. In order to encourage land settlement to a greater degree, an Immigration Land Act was passed in 1873 entitling immigrants to certain land grants.

The high rate of immigration in the early seventies resulting from these measures has already been mentioned. The Vogel schemes, though sound enough in principle, were over-ambitious and extravagant, and a recession in 1879 led to the adoption of less liberal provisions in regard to passages and a tightening up of conditions applying to the nomination scheme. From 1871 to 1880 more than 100,000 assisted and nominated immigrants arrived in the country: in the next 12 years the total number was less than one-seventh of this figure. From 1881, only the nominations scheme operated. Government encouragement of immigration fluctuated with the uncertain state of the economy, and in the prolonged trade depression of the late eighties and early nineties finally came to an end. The nomination scheme was formally discontinued in December 1890, though a few immigrants already accepted, arrived in 1891. In all, the Government-sponsored schemes from 1871 to 1891 had brought in 114,907 immigrants: of these 31,693 were nominated.

Government Interest Revived. From 1891 to 1903 there were no official Government schemes of immigration, but in 1893 the Agent-General in London arranged an agreement with the New Zealand Shipping Co. (later extended to other companies) for reduced fares to be given to persons with a minimum capital (mostly farmers) likely to prove successful settlers. The Government made no contribution. In 1903 the Government decided to assist immigration again by subsidising fares, these subsidies to be additional to the shipping companies' reductions which were still operating. In 1906 a modified nominations scheme was reintroduced relating to domestic servants, farmers, and farm workers. The scheme was extended in 1913 to cover other categories of workers. Boy immigrants for farm labour were also sought. Although variations were introduced from time to time, the 1913 scheme of nominated and assisted immigration remained the substance of the Government's immigration policies for more than 20 years. From 1900 to 1914, 35,669 immigrants were assisted, but the war years naturally saw a marked decline, only 2,647 assisted immigrants (mostly nominated) arriving from 1915 to 1918.

1919 to Second World War. The new tide of immigration which followed the war began with the arrival of men of the Imperial forces, and of wives and fiancées of New Zealand men who fought overseas. The flow was increased by a decision of Government in 1920 to take in 10,000 persons a year from the United Kingdom, and by an agreement with the United Kingdom Government under the Empire Settlement Act 1922 by which the two Governments were to share the cost of assisted passages for immigrants. Arrivals under these schemes rose from 3,569 in 1919 to 10,766 in 1926. After 1926, business conditions were less buoyant and from May 1927 the assisted scheme was suspended except for domestics and single women, wives of earlier immigrants, and boys under certain juvenile schemes. The numbers of assisted immigrants declined steadily until with the onset of the depression of the thirties there were very few arrivals.

Special attention was paid in this period to juvenile immigration. There were at least six schemes, and the numbers brought out from 1924 to 1931 were: Flock House boys, 423; Flock House girls, 121; Public School boys, 645; Church of England boys, 494; Salvation Army boys, 564; Empire Exhibition Scholarship boys, 12 – a total of 2,259.

Nominally, the reduced immigration scheme of the late nineteen twenties remained in effect between the depression and Second World War but it was little used. Persons assisted from 1936 to 1941 numbered less than 60 and from 1942 to 1946 there were none.

Recent Policy

Immigration Resumed After Second World War. The immediate post-war views on immigration were coloured by the need to ensure the satisfactory and rapid rehabilitation of New Zealand ex-servicemen, though the wider issue of future population was also a matter for concern. Thus in December 1945 the House of Representatives set up a Parliamentary Committee “to consider ways and means of increasing the population of the Dominion”. The Committee found that “our future generations must in the main be born within our own shores”, and on the matter of immigration its recommendations were cautious. Among other things it said: “It is obvious that the shortages in secondary industries, and to a lesser extent, in tertiary industries, cannot be made up in the short run from our own population. There is a great deal to be said for a carefully planned immigration policy. By planning we mean that the immigrants should be carefully selected for their occupational aptitudes”.

The Government had taken steps already to alleviate an acute shortage of staff in mental hospitals by recruiting female workers in the United Kingdom, and 158 of these arrived in 1946–47 and, later, a further 82. Then in July 1947 the Government announced its new immigration scheme. It covered single residents of the United Kingdom suitable for and willing to accept employment in selected occupations in New Zealand where labour shortages were acute. Free passages were offered ex-servicemen from the Second World War: others were required to pay £10. In every case, a contract to remain in the selected employment for two years was required. An Immigration Council representative of the major national organisations was established to advise the Minister of Immigration on policy and the size of intake from time to time. A nominations scheme was added in 1949. In May 1950 the whole scheme was substantially broadened. The age limits for unmarried British immigrants (including nominated persons) was raised to 45, all passages were to be free, and the scheme was extended to certain categories of married British immigrants with up to two (later four) children. A new trend was the acceptance, after negotiations and conclusion of agreements with the countries concerned, of a number of single non-British men and women between the ages of 20 and 35.

The 1950 scheme has remained the basis of the immigration programme but the categories of workers accepted have been altered on occasion to suit the changing needs for different classes of workers and to effect reductions or increases in the assisted immigration targets made necessary by fluctuating economic conditions. The flow of assisted immigrants has therefore been uneven, reaching a peak of 7,581 in 1952–53, declining to 4,332 in 1954–55, approximating 5,000 for several years following, and falling to 2,231 in 1960–61. In March 1961 the Government announced a target of 5,000 assisted immigrants for the following year, but the economic outlook took a turn for the worse and the target was later reduced to half this figure. It was thought that this reduction would be achieved principally by limiting recruitment to skilled and experienced workers for industries particularly short of labour and once again requiring contributions from the immigrants themselves towards their fares – £25 from single men and £50 from family groups. But the tap of supply is not easily turned on and off at will, and in this case the list of accepted persons waiting for transport had to be disposed of before any reduction could become effective. In the meantime the economic outlook had substantially improved. The net result was the arrival of 3,584 assisted immigrants in 1961–62 and 4,532 in 1962–63.

As a result of a recommendation to Government from the Export Development Conference held in June 1963, and supported by the Immigration Advisory Council, the official annual target was amended to 3,500 in the following August. But it was stated at the time that a large number of suitable applicants were awaiting passages in the United Kingdom and still coming forward; as a consequence, in the next 12 months some 4,500 assisted immigrants were expected to arrive. Thus the new objective could not become effective until 1964–65, and in an attempt to make it effective by reducing the demand for assisted passages, the contributions towards transport costs from new applicants were raised to £50 for single men and women and £100 for family groups. This, however, proved a greater deterrent than was expected and applications fell so markedly that in June 1964 the contributions required from immigrants were halved to the earlier figures. The intake objective was retained at 3,500 for the year. The target was actually exceeded, the number of assisted immigrants being 4,347 in 1963–64 and 4,400 in 1964–65. The official objective was raised to 4,000 in June 1965.

From the end of the Second World War to March 1965, 72,026 assisted immigrants arrived under the basic schemes, together with 4,584 displaced persons, 1,117 Hungarian refugees, and a number of European refugee families. Some 1,622 persons also arrived under subsidy schemes. Of the number arriving under the basic schemes, 64,628 (90 per cent) were from the United Kingdom.

The Government immigration schemes since the Second World War have had one primary objective – to supplement the labour force in New Zealand. Thus, assisted immigrants comprised principally persons of working age (especially young adults) within specified occupational categories and skills. The number of assisted immigrants was substantially exceeded by persons who paid their own passages or air fares in full, and these naturally comprised a much wider age group. Most of these “voluntary” immigrants were from the United Kingdom and Australia, a small proportion from South Africa, and a rising number (though still small in relation to total migration movements) from Polynesia.

The following table supplies the numbers of immigrants who arrived under free and assisted passages in each decade from 1871 to 1960 and gives for the same periods the net gain from migration.

Note: In the following four calendar years, 1961–64, Government assisted immigrants numbered 16,533 and the net gain from migration was 55,894.