Temporary and disadvantaged? The economic and spatial assimilation of New Zealand Maori in Sydney

Abstract

AbstractMuch of the work on the spatial assimilation and, more recently, segmented (uneven) assimilation of ethnic group immigrants looks at ‘permanent’ settlement. Less attention has been paid to the settlement outcomes of unrestricted migration flows among linked national labour markets involving circulatory migration. Focusing on the occupational characteristics and settlement patterns of New Zealand Maori in Sydney, in a context where the labour markets of New Zealand and Australia are largely integrated, this study analyses the special characteristics of resultant intergenerational occupational characteristics and settlement patterns. Results are consistent with other studies portraying most New Zealand Maori as part of a return migration stream in the Australian context, with the majority only temporarily resident in Sydney. Maori in Sydney do not form major ethnic residential enclaves as they do in New Zealand cities, but rather the majority live in areas where the ‘host’ society is dominant but with a minority ethnic component. Thus most are not clustered in local enclaves, but socioeconomic disadvantage is a characteristic of those who are. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.