Edges of Empire explores radical rethink of immigration to New Zealand

Co-author Dr Neil Vallelly says this book shows readers how we've become the country we are today.

AotearoaNew Zealand has transformed into a hyper-diverse society as a result of a radical rethink of immigration policy from the 1980s.

The newly released book Edges of Empire: The Politics of Immigration in AotearoaNew Zealand, 1980-2020, published by Auckland University Press, is an in-depth account of the social, political and economic context within which these transformations in policy and population took place.

Otago Sociology Lecturer Dr Neil Vallelly is one of the three social scientists who have co-authored this book.

"The book shows readers how we've become the country we are today. It's as much a book about nation-building as it is about immigration.

"If you want to understand the country we live in today, its population dynamics, its structure of work, its social and economic inequalities, and its wider sense of itself on the global stage, then Edges of Empire is an important step in doing so," Neil says.

Neil's co-authors are Professor Francis Collins (University of Auckland), and Professor Alan Gamlen (Australian National University). In 2019 and 2020, they both interviewed 15 of the 18 Ministers of Immigration that were in office between 1980 and 2020, initially in-person and then via Zoom because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Neil says the book gives a clear insight into how policy gets made and the politics surrounding it.

"I'm not sure you would get such access to politicians in other countries. The Ministers were very candid and giving with their time, and through talking to them, we came to see that some of the preconceptions that we had about immigration policy were wrong," Neil says.

"We realised that migration politics has been effectively depoliticised in AotearoaNew Zealand, and it doesn't really matter which government is in power as the core settings of immigration policy remain the same."

Neil explains he then came on board and used the existing research on immigration in AotearoaNew Zealand to build a historical narrative of the politics of immigration in this country.

"Francis and Alan expanded on my writing and then wove the interviews through the narrative. We came together to draft the final version of the book together. The process took several years, but I enjoyed it, and I was lucky to get to learn from scholars of the standing of Francis and Alan."

Neil says from colonisation until the 1980s, immigration policy focused on the racial and cultural characteristics of migrants, prioritising those from Britain and Ireland. After the Second World War, there was a tentative opening to immigrants from Northern Europe.

In the mid-1980s, immigration policy radically changed, with a new focus on the economic characteristics of migrants, which saw a turn primarily towards north, south, and southeast Asia.

"This shift in focus has transformed the demographics of AotearoaNew Zealand, and we are a much more multicultural society today. The shift has also brought with it changes in the types of migration, with a turn away from permanent to temporary migration."

Dunedin book launch

Edges of Empire: The Politics of Immigration in AotearoaNew Zealand, 1980-2020 (Auckland University Press)

Thursday, 6pm, 9 October 2025

University Book Shop, 378 Great King Street, Dunedin