Media, politics and the Asianisation of a polarised immigration debate in New Zealand

Abstract

The immigration issue in New Zealand was presented by the country's media in the election year of 1996 as a debate on the pros and cons of Asian immigration. In a country where immigration legislation has had a history of institutionalised racism, and where politicians have periodically raised the issue for electoral gain, such racial labelling of the issue can be seen to lay the ground for social and political tension. Using the principles of discourse analysis charted by Fairclough (1995), this paper analyses the text and the context of print media reports on the immigration issue.