New Zealand’s election: bad news for Chinese immigration?
Meet Jacinda Ardern, the whiskey loving woman who has been compared to Trump and is storming into Saturday’s polls on the back of ‘Jacindamania’
With her large smile and impassioned speeches on child poverty and global warming, 37-year-old Jacinda Ardern has attracted plenty of attention since taking over the leadership of New Zealand’s opposition Labour Party just eight weeks out from the September 23 election.
She has helped the party almost double its support in the polls, from 24 per cent when she took over as leader, to 37 per cent – potentially enough to clinch victory with support from minor parties.
New Zealand election: ‘I’m Jacinda Ardern, and I hope that I can bring it home’
The groundswell of support has led media to coin terms like “Jacindamania” and compare her to other charismatic leaders, such as Trudeau.
But it’s her plans to tighten rules on immigration by slashing visas by up to 30,000 that have prompted The Wall Street Journal to compare her to Trump, who has launched crackdowns on immigration since coming into power.
New Zealand has seen record migration this year with many applicants coming from China. China is the most common source country for New Zealand resident visas with more than 8,550 receiving approval last year, according to government immigration statistics.
