Ryan Bridge: Kiwis actually love Butter Chicken, Shane

Take away migrants from our economy and the thing pretty much falls apart. 

This is not Europe, where they're overrun with migrant boats and expensive hotel bills to house the passengers. 

This is not the US, where illegal migrants poured across a porous border.

This is New Zealand, separated from the rest of the world by the Pacific Ocean and rather fussy about who comes here and why. 

If you look at the numbers, they tell you we're doing a good job on migration.

Kiwi migrants are, according to a New Zealand Initiative report:

• Less likely to claim a benefit
• More likely to be employed
• Their children have better education outcomes than native born New Zealanders

The idea they steal jobs from Kiwis doesn't stack up because an economy doesn't have a cap on the number of jobs available. Job growth happens when demand increases and migration = increased demand. Plus they're more likely to take intuitive and start businesses which employ people. 

Migrants also tend to be younger, so contribute more to taxes than native born Kiwis. They also do jobs many think they're above doing – just look at those on the dole in the regions.

Housing and hospitals can be a problem, but that's a job that can be fixed with better planning laws, fewer regulations, and investment in health. 

So back to Matua Shane and his butter chicken tsunami – actually, the India FTA, as far as we can tell, would allow just 5000 three-year visas at any one time. That's according to the Government.

That's just 6% of Accredited Employer Work Visas issued each year.

90% will come here for jobs we have shortages in: engineers, IT professionals, teachers.

This looks like a bit of a beat up from Uncle Shane. As for the "colourful" language, actually, most Kiwis don't mind a bit of butter chicken thank you very much.

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