Summarised by Centrist
Christopher Luxon has publicly slapped down Shane Jones after the NZ First deputy leader warned a free trade deal with India could unleash a “butter chicken tsunami” of immigration into New Zealand.
Jones made the remark on Reality Check Radio while attacking the proposed agreement, saying he feared “unfettered immigration” that would clog roads and overwhelm health and frontline services.
Luxon said NZ First was “frankly wrong” on the India FTA, just as it had been “wrong to oppose the China FTA”, and argued the agreement was about opportunity for a small country doing business with “the third biggest economy in the world, one of the fastest growing economies in the world”.
Pressed on Jones’ language, Luxon stopped short of calling it racist. He said the immigration argument being pushed by NZ First was “absolutely false” and described the rhetoric as “alarmist” and “scaremongering”. Asked again whether the remarks were racist, Luxon replied: “It doesn’t sound right. I mean, I’m just saying to you, it’s alarmist, and it’s actually unhelpful language.”
Jones made clear he was not backing down, saying: “I don’t care how much criticism I get,” before insisting he was “never going to agree with a butter chicken tsunami coming to New Zealand.”
Trade Minister Todd McClay, who is set to sign the deal next week, declined to comment on Jones’ remarks, while Jones himself avoided further questions. The result is an awkward public rupture inside the government just as National tries to present the India agreement as a strategic breakthrough.
