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# National admits NZ needs immigration to avoid population decline
- URL: https://goodoil.news/national-admits-nz-needs-immigration-to-avoid-population-decline/
- Published: 2026-05-16T22:50:27.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-16T23:46:02.000Z
- Description: "We are going to rely on migration.”
- Author: Centrist
- Tags: News

Summarised by [Centrist](https://centrist.nz/?ref=goodoil.news)

**Immigration Minister Erica Stanford has said New Zealand will have to rely on migration because the country is not having enough children.**

**The admission came during a noisy question time exchange, after Labour’s Phil Twyford asked whether National supported or opposed immigration-fuelled population growth.**

Stanford replied: “We are not producing enough babies in this country to ensure that we have a stable or even growing population. We are going to rely on migration.”

She said the issue was “very serious”, pointing to the risk of a declining population. New Zealand’s current birth rate is 1.6 children per woman, well below the replacement rate of 2.1.

> "If you search on the database of accredited employers and you search in Domino's Pizza, there's something like 40-odd results come up." – Jackson Fowler – Medical Plastics General Manager  
>  
> Jackson Fowler says dozens of Domino's Pizza stores in New Zealand are accredited… [pic.twitter.com/PTCaqNFL6n](https://t.co/PTCaqNFL6n?ref=goodoil.news)
> 
> — REALITY CHECK RADIO (@RCR\_NZ) [May 15, 2026](https://twitter.com/RCR%5FNZ/status/2055362925892657221?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=goodoil.news)

> It’s deeply ironic that Phil Twyford, Labour’s spokesperson on immigration, tried to brand Christopher Luxon and National as racist over their immigration stance.  
>  
> This is the same Phil Twyford who, during Auckland’s housing crisis, notoriously singled out people with… [pic.twitter.com/jgbn5HeKfd](https://t.co/jgbn5HeKfd?ref=goodoil.news)
> 
> — Suit and tie (@Suitandtie9999) [May 14, 2026](https://twitter.com/Suitandtie9999/status/2055050425884393734?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=goodoil.news)

> Some explicitly racist accounts from overseas seem to have no awareness that modern NZ isn't an ethnically segregated society.  
> If anything it's the opposite – almost 1 in 3 NZ kids have more than one ethnicity (including 70% of Māori, 62% of Pasifika, and 38% of European kids). [https://t.co/C2YEduMEqt](https://t.co/C2YEduMEqt?ref=goodoil.news) [pic.twitter.com/1SGa2bYTly](https://t.co/1SGa2bYTly?ref=goodoil.news)
> 
> — Charted Daily (@Charteddaily) [May 2, 2026](https://twitter.com/Charteddaily/status/2050713820444946844?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=goodoil.news)

The debate also exposed tension inside the coalition’s immigration messaging. 

Twyford contrasted Christopher Luxon’s comment that New Zealand would “really need more immigration” with Winston Peters repeatedly saying the opposite.

[**Read more over at Stuff**](https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360978935/were-not-having-enough-babies-immigration-minister-triggers-raucous-response-during-question-time?ref=goodoil.news)

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