新西兰英语 27 Immigration Service in Trouble

　　The New Zealand Immigration Service has been in the news recently, for all the wrong reasons. The head of the service, Mary Anne Thompson, resigned last week after it was found that she did not have a PhD after all. Before this job with Immigration, she had worked in Treasury¹ and in the Prime Minister’s department. On her CV, she wrote that she had a PhD from the London School of Economics, and nobody checked it. Now there is a police inquiry² into her qualifications to see if she gave false information.
She was also in trouble because 3 of her relatives from the Pacific island of Kiribati were given permanent residence in New Zealand after the quota³ was already filled. Some of the staff in the Immigration Service say that Mary Anne Thompson told them to give these people visas. The staff said they were not happy about doing this. There is now an inquiry to look into this matter.
Another problem is in the Pacific Division of Immigration. This is a part of Immigration that was set up by Mary Anne Thompson, to deal with Pacific Islanders coming here. New Zealand has a special relationship with Samoa because our country controlled Samoa after World War 1, until 1962. We have a quota to allow more than 1,000 Samoans to immigrate⁴ to New Zealand each year but many more want to come. There are smaller quotas⁵ for other Pacific countries. As well as immigration, many Pacific Islanders are coming to New Zealand for shorter periods to pick fruit and work in the wine industry. One immigration agent said he was worried about the possibility of bribery⁶, that people could pay money to get a visa illegally. The Labour Department is going to have an inquiry to make sure there is no corruption⁷ in the Pacific Division of Immigration.
New Zealand, Denmark and Finland are 1st equal in the world for being free from corruption. Our world reputation is very important to us. Today, the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, said there will be another inquiry into the New Zealand Immigration Service. The Auditor-General, Kevin Brady, will hold an independent inquiry. He is not a friend of the Labour government or any other political party.

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

3 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。

4 immigrate   

v.（从外国）移来，移居入境

参考例句：

• 10,000 people are expected to immigrate in the next two years.接下来的两年里预计有10，000人会移民至此。
• Only few plants can immigrate to the island.只有很少的植物能够移植到这座岛上。

5 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

6 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

7 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。