Happy Easter everyone! We are enjoying a long weekend with our larger family (schools and most businesses in New Zealand are closed for a four day weekend for Easter, some schools, like our son's, are closed on the Tuseday after Easter as well). Lucy is a week old today and we are enjoying the sleepy stage when getting her to sleep is a fairly easy proposition. The boys are struggling to moderate their voices (Thomas came in to say goodnight to Lucy and pretty much shouted "GOODNIGHT" into the cot!) but are loving the cuddles with her and are desperately keen to start carrying her. Not yet boys. Not yet!

In population news, New Zealand's new government has made lots of noises about limiting the number of new immigrants to New Zealand to reduce pressure on infrastructure and particularly the overstreched Auckland housing stock. The government's job is cut out for them as the latest population figures show that the net migration gain of New Zealand in 2016/17 was 72,300 people (this represents a populaiton increase of about 1.5% since New Zealand's population is about 4.7 million people). The latest figures are a net migration increase of 4.7 per cent on the year before and is largely driven by an increase in temporary work visa holders (up 16%). While permanent residences approval is down by 8 per cent on the year before as the targeted point system was changed meaning that new immigrants need to get 160, rather than 140 points. Points are awarded on different categories such as proposed business size, where the immigrant porposes to settle (anywhere but Auckland is preferred) etc. It will be interesting to see what a centre-left government, which has made so many noises about large immigration numbers while in opposition, does about it. Much of the net migration figure is driven by the fewer New Zealanders leaving for overseas (especially Australia) and there's not much the government can do about that apart from wrecking the New Zealand economy...