Administration
H.L Bockett (right) and his succesor, Harry Parsonage.
New Zealand House in London
Bert Bockett was appointed Secretary for Labour in April 1947. The Labour Department was responsible for setting up and administering the assisted immigration scheme, and one of Bockett’s responsibilities was to chair the government-appointed Immigration Advisory Council which advised the government on the numbers of immigrants required, whether the scheme could be extended, and other changes in policy. The scheme was extended to the Netherlands and some other European countries in 1950, and in 1964 Bockett was awarded the Oliver Van Noort medallion by the Dutch government for services to the Netherlands.
Prospective immigrants were interviewed by Immigration Branch staff—for those living in London, this happened at New Zealand House. Vera Donoghue, who emigrated to New Zealand in 1966, recalls her interview as being very formal.
'They asked you, more or less, why you wanted to come to New Zealand. I said for a different lifestyle. I think because I was single, that was another reason I got out easy.'
She was also asked about her health.
'‘That’s what they were most interested in, I think—that you weren’t going to take any dreaded disease over to New Zealand—TB, polio or any chest complaints. And that you were going to be a hard worker.'
She had to have a full medical and a chest X-ray, both of which she paid for herself, although initially the New Zealand government had paid for these.
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