Latest news with #HelenClark
Newsroom
12 hours ago
- General
- Newsroom
New Zealand's invisible children
When Helen Clark's Labour government brought in a law that would create waves of undocumented children, even the immigration experts had no idea of the impact it would have on thousands of lives. The 2006 Citizenship Amendment Act ended automatic citizenship for children born here to overstayers or parents with temporary visas. It was also supported by the National Party. Immigration lawyer Alastair McClymont has been working in the sector for more than 25 years but only recently discovered the fallout from the law. 'It never really occurred to me that this would actually be a problem,' he says. 'It was only really when these children started coming forward that I thought 'This is really unusual, I wonder how many other children are in this sort of situation'. 'It is only recent because these children are now finishing high school and realising that their life has now come to an end, they don't have any options as to what to do.' They are called 'the invisible children', says RNZ immigration reporter Gill Bonnett. They are mainly children of overstayers or temporary visa holders from Pacific countries, India or China. She's known about them for many years but they have been hidden or protected by their parents and communities. 'These people don't want to come forward because they are scared about the consequences of doing so and they don't want to speak up either in the media or necessarily don't want to put their case in front of immigration officials in case it means that they or their parents get deported.' The case of Daman Kumar brought the issue to light, she says, when he bravely spoke to RNZ Asia reporter Blessen Tom two years ago. At the time, the teenager's voice was disguised and he went unnamed for fear he would be deported to India, along with his parents. This year he hit the headlines and his identity was revealed when he was on the verge of deportation. 'He'd been able to go to school okay but when it came to thinking about university or work he realised that he had nowhere to go,' says Bonnett. To further complicate the matter, Kumar's sister was unaffected because she was born before the 2006 law, meaning she is legally a New Zealand citizen. And it is not unique to the Kumar family, Bonnett says. She explains to The Detail what was happening in New Zealand when the law was brought in, including the sense of moral panic. At the time Helen Clark said she was concerned about incidents of people flying to New Zealand for a short time and having babies here to ensure they gained passports, known as 'birth tourism'. Clark said the government would be silly not to look at this, given what other countries were doing. 'They call it the 'anchor babies',' says Bonnett. 'The idea that if your child had citizenship that later on in life you might be able to get citizenship yourself or that you would just be bestowing good privileges on them for later on.' She says there were concerns on both sides of the ledger at the time: one side about birth tourism, where a child born on New Zealand soil would automatically get citizenship, and on the other side concerns about children who had lived here all their lives but didn't have citizenship. It is not clear how many children are undocumented, but McClymont says it could be thousands and the number will keep growing. 'Every year now more and more children are going to be coming out of high school and realising that they can't study, they can't go and get jobs because it would be a breach of the law for employers to employ someone who's here unlawfully. So they can't work, they can't study, they can't travel, they just simply cannot do anything.' McClymont says he has not had a satisfactory response from the Government to his suggestion that New Zealand follow Australia and Britain by giving children birthright citizenship after 10 years of habitual residence. 'Really, it's hard to see what the justification is for punishing these children. Nobody is making the argument that these children have done something wrong and that they deserve to be punished. 'The only potential argument is that these children are being punished as a deterrent for others against having children here in New Zealand,' he says. 'It's just unfathomable as a society that we can actually do this to children and use them for this purpose. There doesn't seem to be any moral justification whatsoever for treating them so badly.' Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
RNZ News
13 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
New Zealand's invisible children
Photo: janfaukner/123RF When Helen Clark's Labour government brought in a law that would create waves of undocumented children, even the immigration experts had no idea of the impact it would have on thousands of lives. The 2006 Citizenship Amendment Act ended automatic citizenship for children born here to overstayers or parents with temporary visas. It was also supported by the National party. Immigration lawyer Alastair McClymont has been working in the sector for more than 25 years, but only recently discovered the fallout from the law. "It never really occurred to me that this would actually be a problem," he says. "It was only really when these children started coming forward that I thought 'this is really unusual, I wonder how many other children are in this sort of situation'. "It is only recent because these children are now finishing high school and realising that their life has now come to an end, they don't have any options as to what to do." They are called 'the invisible children', says RNZ immigration reporter Gill Bonnett. They are mainly children of overstayers or temporary visa holders from Pacific countries, India or China. She's known about them for many years, but they have been hidden or protected by their parents and communities. "These people don't want to come forward because they are scared about the consequences of doing so and they don't want to speak up either in the media or necessarily don't want to put their case in front of immigration officials in case it means that they or their parents get deported." The case of Daman Kumar brought the issue to light, she says, when he bravely spoke to RNZ Asia reporter Blessen Tom two years ago . At the time, the teenager's voice was disguised and he went unnamed for fear that he would be deported to India, along with his parents. This year he hit the headlines and his identity was revealed when he was on the verge of deportation. "He'd been able to go to school okay but when it came to thinking about university or work he realised that he had nowhere to go," says Bonnett. To further complicate the matter, Kumar's sister was unaffected because she was born before the 2006 law, meaning she is legally a New Zealand citizen. And it is not unique to the Kumar family, Bonnett says. She explains to The Detail what was happening in New Zealand when the law was brought in, including the sense of moral panic. At the time Helen Clark said she was concerned about incidents of people flying to New Zealand for a short time and having babies here to ensure they gained passports, known as "birth tourism". Clark said the government would be silly not to look at this, given what other countries were doing. "They call it the 'anchor babies'," says Bonnett. "The idea that if your child had citizenship that later on in life you might be able to get citizenship yourself or that you would just be bestowing good privileges on them for later on." She says there were concerns on both sides of the ledger at the time, concerns on one side about birth tourism, where a child born on New Zealand soil would automatically get citizenship, and on the other side concerns about children who had lived here all their lives but didn't have citizenship. It is not clear how many children are undocumented, but McClymont says it could be thousands and the number will keep growing. "Every year now more and more children are going to be coming out of high school and realising that they can't study, they can't go and get jobs because it would be a breach of the law for employers to employ someone who's here unlawfully. So they can't work, they can't study, they can't travel, they just simply cannot do anything." McClymont says he has not had a satisfactory response from the government to his suggestion that New Zealand follow Australia and Britain by giving children birthright citizenship after 10 years of habitual residence. "Really, it's hard to see what the justification is for punishing these children. Nobody is making the argument that these children have done something wrong and that they deserve to be punished. "The only potential argument is that these children are being punished as a deterrent for others against having children here in New Zealand," he says. "It's just unfathomable as a society that we can actually do this to children and use them for this purpose. There doesn't seem to be any moral justification whatsoever for treating them so badly." Check out how to listen to and fol low The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
King's Birthday Honours list celebrates Kiwi achievers
Their achievements are elevated and are on par with sporting heroes and politicians, sometimes more deservedly. For some, the honours are less about keeping in step with British tradition and more about giving Kiwis the recognition they deserve. The debate goes back and forth over the honours system, with knight and damehoods having been famously scrapped in 2000 by Helen Clark's Labour Government, then reintroduced as the New Zealand honours system nine years later by Sir John Key. Next door, Australia's knight and damehoods became almost a tug of war within the Liberal Party. Prime Minister Tony Abbott reintroduced them in 2014, puzzlingly knighted Prince Philip, and they were removed again just over a year and a half later by the next Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and have been absent ever since. It's noted that both Clark's and Turnbull's decisions were approved by the Queen, who rarely got involved with government policy. More recently, the New Zealand Republicans have called for honours to be announced at Matariki, saying that recognising the King's birthday (which is not his real birthday) was not a relevant public holiday for the country. This year, however, it's status quo and today's list of recipients are all nominated by their communities and recommended to the King by the Government. Ranjna Patel, a prominent figure in the Auckland community, receives the New Zealand Order of Merit and becomes a Dame for services to ethnic communities, health and family violence prevention. Patel's CV reads like a veritable alphabet soup: ONZM, QSM and now DNZM. Her contributions to the Auckland health community are far too great to list. Millennials will recognise Suzy Cato on today's list. She is being made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to music, television and education. Cato's melodic voice coached children through the Covid-19 lockdowns, producing online content such as storytelling, science experiments and musical activities for children. Cato's show You And Me was staple children's TV viewing in many Kiwi households. She was known by her trademark blonde hair and colourful selection of jumpers. No doubt her grown-up fans can still sing the theme tune It's Our Time by heart. BMX champion Sarah Walker, comedian Dai Henwood, TV personality and historian Jude Dobson, Louise Wallace, Black Fern Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and former All Black and rugby commentator Murray Mexted are other recognisable names on the list. But whether they have name recognition or not, we must take the time to honour and thank our high achievers for their invaluable contributions to society and their local communities – however we choose to celebrate them.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
King's Birthday Honours list to be revealed
life and society culture 28 minutes ago Before the King's Birthday long weekend is done, a list of kiwi's will be crowned with their own titles, when the honours list is unveiled on Monday. Those people will recieve titles such as dame or knight, or letters like ONZM, officer of the New Zealand order of merit for meritorious service to the Crown and the nation. Anyone can nominate a person they think is worthy of New Zealand royal honour. The applications are considered by the Cabinet Appointments and Honours Committee. The Prime Minister then makes the final recommendation to the King. Helen Clark, ONZ, joined Lisa Owen to discuss the list.
NZ Herald
22-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Road rage: Driver brandishes knife in Tauranga
Helen Clark with her father George Clark at home in Waihī Beach ahead of his 103rd birthday. Video / Rosalie Liddle Crawford Fire near State Highway 2 at Apata in the Bay of Plenty. Vaishali McNeill, 15, died in a 2023 head-on crash with a truck. Parents Sarb Mann and David McNeill want harsher penalties for impaired drivers. Video / Andrew Warner, Supplied Chipseal works cause heavy traffic and delays between Te Puna and Aongatete. 340 competitors took part in the prestigious Race One Surf Craft Mount Monster held at Mount Maunganui on Saturday. Video / Geoff Cox Rotorua Māori ward councillor Rawiri Waru at the final meeting for the year. Video / Laura Smith Tauranga school leavers Olly Dow, Thomas Winter and William Dunn are embarking on an epic expedition, raising money for the Child Cancer Foundation. Video supplied. The Kiwi art trail is back this year with support from the Tauranga City Council from Monday, October 14 to Sunday, October 17. Video / Aleyna Martinez Azaria Tai is 8 years old and showing a lot of potential in her gymnastics. She hopes to one day go to the Olympics and represent New Zealand. Video / Ayla Yeoman A man was airlifted to hospital after his vehicle dropped 15m off a road on to its roof in the Coromandel. Video / Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust The relationship between Harry, and his assistance dog Kowhai, provides a much-needed bond between the two and allows his parents to relax. Video / Tom Eley
