Auckland’s two million person problem

For Auckland is a new Spinoff podcast of civic conversations with people working to create and sustain a better Auckland for all. In episode two host Timothy Giles spoke to Pauline Winters about migration.

Auckland is preparing for a population of two million residents. Migration continues to play a huge role in shaping the city. How new cultures integrate and are included in their new home is one of Auckland’s major issues for the future.

Pauline Winter (Te Atiawa/Taranaki) is the co-chair of Committee for Auckland and a long-time Pacific business leader in public and private sectors. In 2008 she was awarded a Queen’s Service Order for her work for business and Pacific communities.

On the podcast, she speaks about the difficulty migrants face in integrating within New Zealand’s labour market, political system and everyday social interactions. She asks how can we, as the people of Auckland, contribute to creating a better city for everyone now and for future generations?

“Yes, we are a city of migration. Auckland’s always been a city of migration but the acceleration of people coming into the country from a much broader diverse set of countries has really taken off and it kind of takes your breath away. When you are across walking across Auckland or in the car, through this city, it’s quite a different place to what it was 10, 15 years ago. So all of a sudden it’s arrived. We talked about it for a long time but it’s here now and it is up to us what we do with this,” she says.