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Polynesians by 2021

Posted on: Tuesday, 10 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

SYDNEY, June 10 (Kyodo) -- New Zealand will be home to more Asians than Polynesians and their population will more than double to almost equal that of indigenous Maori people by 2021, Statistics New Zealand said Tuesday.

The Asian population in New Zealand is projected to reach 604,000 in 2021, a 120% increase from 2001, Government Statistician Brian Pink said.

Although the annual Asian growth rate is expected to slow from 13% in 2002 to less than 2% by 2021, the population will still grow at a faster pace than the total New Zealand population because of the higher levels of migration, he said in a statement.

Asians will outnumber Pacific island immigrants who are expected to account for 9% of New Zealanders by 2021, Statistics NZ has said. New Zealand's Maori population is projected to make up 17% by then.

Estimates for Europeans will be released this month, but Pakeha, as they are referred to in Maori, represented 80% of New Zealand in 2001 and their population is expected to decline.

The government has turned New Zealand into the ''last Asian colony,'' controversial anti-immigration Member of Parliament and leader of the New Zealand First Party Winston Peters said Tuesday.

Artificial population changes in New Zealand through immigration will ''create considerable social and cultural disruption'' and are based on a policy of ''social madness,'' he said in a statement.

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