Well done Phil Twyford

The Herald reports:

A New Zealand-born Chinese teenager has blasted the attitudes of some Kiwis towards her, saying they see her as “just another foreigner” here to buy their houses.

The 17-year-old student, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she now felt unwelcome in the country she was born and raised in.

Her experience is felt by many young Chinese, a community leader has revealed.

In an open letter sent to the Herald, the Auckland teen spoke about the influx of foreign buyers in the New Zealand housing market and how she now felt as if ordinary Kiwis blamed her because of her ethnic background.

“Just recently, I no longer feel like I am welcome in the country I have lived in for my whole life. I am viewed daily as just another foreigner who is here to take houses away from local New Zealanders.

“Despite how much I love the land I spent my childhood in, I get annoyed glances because people who share the same blood as me are taking away opportunities that rightfully belonged in our society.

“Except these opportunities are taken from me too.”

The teen lives on the North Shore, where she attends high school.

She said she is proud to be born a Kiwi, that she had been schooled in New Zealand and hopes to contribute to society one day.

Contrary to what people believed when they looked at her, she did not come from a very wealthy family and her parents – immigrants – had worked hard after arriving in New Zealand with almost nothing, she said.

But according to Labour she no doubt has a foreign sounding surname.

Anyone born (legally) in New Zealand is a New Zealander. It is a real shame that certain politicians are trying to make the issue of housing about ethnicity.