Among OECD countries, New Zealand has one of the highest rates of settlement immigration, as well one of the highest rates of emigration of its own citizens.  In recent years, there have also been accelerated levels of international education migration and of short to medium term working permits, in both cases with the potential to lead to permanent residence. Thus, the ethnic composition of this small country is diversifying rapidly.  Further, a high proportion of new migrants have settled in the largest city, Auckland, focussing attention on change there.  This paper considers census and other data on recent changes in migrant populations, and the consequent rapid diversification of ethnoscapes in Auckland within the context of political discourses in an election year about immigration and its outcomes.