What determines how many people from abroad get to settle permanently in New Zealand is the residence approvals programme. Under that programme, at present the aim is to grant around 45000 approvals to non-citizens each year (Australians aren’t subject to visa requirements, but in most years the net inflow of Australians is very small). The outgoing government reduced that target (from 47500) last year. Labour’s immigration policy document does not, even once, mention the residence approvals programme. That was, no doubt, a conscious choice. They are quite happy with the baseline rate of non-citizen immigration we’ve had for the last 20 years; quite happy to have the highest planned rate of non-citizen immigration anywhere in the OECD. Medium-term forecasts of the net non-citizen immigration inflow will not change, one iota, if Labour proceeds with their policy. For some of course, that will be a desirable feature. For others it is a serious flaw, that results from failing to come to grips with the damage large scale immigration is doing to the economic fortunes of New Zealanders.