24 Apr 2018

Nelson-Tasman migrant community suffer major barriers - study

From Morning Report, 6:15 am on 24 April 2018

A long-term study on the needs of the migrant community in Nelson-Tasman has revealed the cost of living is a barrier to settling, racial discrimination is widespread, and language barriers are preventing some from getting jobs. Nelson now has the country's third largest migrant population, behind Auckland and Wellington, according to the last census. The head of the Nelson Regional Economic Development Agency, Mark Rawson, says the the region has miseed out on private sector opportunities through not identifying the value of diversity. He says a programme is underway to focus more resources on developing this part of the regional economy.