Immigration: an election issue that has yet to be addressed?

Amongst other things, election year 2017 will be remembered for record levels of permanent and long-term migration. Immigration featured regularly in the media, both as a topic in its own right, as well as a factor associated with a deepening housing crisis in Auckland, increasing congestion on the roads in Auckland and in major tourist towns, and much faster population growth than had been anticipated. Yet immigration was not a prominent issue in either the election or during the first six months of the Labour-led Coalition Government. In this paper we assess the impact of policy changes introduced by the National Government in October 2016 and July 2017. Our analysis draws on several data sets, some of which have been withdrawn from public access regrettably. Declining net migration gains and concerns over exploitation of people on study and short-term work visas has delayed major changes in immigration policy through to June 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]