Indian FTA.
Winston calls it “low quality” and “rushed”.
Who’s gonna make the gravy now? I bet it won’t taste the same
Just add flour, salt, a little red wine
And don’t forget a dollop of tomato sauce for sweetness and that extra tang
Song: Paul Kelly.
Picture the scene. Popadoms and Naan, Saagwala and Rogan Josh, all the exotic colours and smells of an Indian banquet and your host, one Mr Luxon, presents the table with mild butter chicken, which he proclaims to be the spiciest of Indian food.
The coalition was desperate to get this Indian FTA done, to justify all their business travel, not just representing value with the men in suits doing the deal, but also to show that the government was doing something to help the economy beyond tearing up regulations.
Unfortunately, the coalition parties couldn’t agree. For National, this was the best thing since we worked out how to slice bread and smear marmite on it. But the Foreign Minister said it was no such thing, and he wouldn’t support it.
It’s the lactose-intolerant FTA, the FTA you have when you’re not having an FTA.
And Winston says having no dairy is too woke.
Winston declared he’d disagree and would be standing up for Kiwis, with some trademark xenophobia against Indian immigrants to boot, in the election year.
Peters had a point about the extent of the agreement, which is far from the expansive deal Luxon claims, given that it excludes dairy.
“The India FTA would be New Zealand’s first trade deal to exclude our major dairy products - including milk, cheese and butter. In the year to November 2025, New Zealand exports of these products were worth around $24 billion, or 30% of our total goods exports.” - Peters.
Diana wrote, “I think it’s highly unlikely that any free trade agreement made by the PM has been to NZ’s advantage. He and his coalition cronies haven’t had NZ interests at heart from day one.”
Given what a poor negotiator Luxon has proven himself to be with the coalition agreement, you do have to wonder whether he should be anywhere near a trade negotiation.
Diane pointed out, “This is the trade deal Luxon was bragging would be signed off in a matter of days back in April after his trip to India. Just as well no one was holding their breath.”
Winston also played the immigrant card, much loved by his mate, Farage, in the UK.
“On a per capita basis, National has offered far greater access for India to our labour market than did Australia or the United Kingdom to secure their FTAs. This is deeply unwise given New Zealand’s current labour market conditions, with too many New Zealanders in unemployment or doing it tough economically,” - Peters.
By all means, have an immigration plan, but talking about one specific nationality is pretty ugly from our Foreign Minister, and I imagine Luxon must be quite frustrated.
Maureen commented, “What a bizarre fkn deal at a time when we are sanctioning our own unemployed. We have a selfie-loving PM who is willing to let in more immigrants to take the few jobs available just to say ‘look at me, I got a trade deal with India’.”
The media tried to make a big deal about Labour potentially supporting the agreement in Winston’s absence, which boiled down to one MP saying it was better than nothing. There is no commitment from Labour, who might have expected to be involved if their vote was required.
Where Luxon would have looked forward to some respite after so much bad news in 2025, this story bubbles on in the absence of any other political news. This is, as he likes to say, not Winston’s first rodeo.
Last night, Stuff reported that Winston said his party would vote against National’s free trade deal with India, describing it as “low quality” and “rushed”.
Ouch!
We all knew Peters would break free from the coalition in 2026 to campaign first and foremost for himself, but I hadn’t anticipated him ending 2025 by undermining Luxon, as he crowed that his FTA is the holy grail, saying the deal is “low quality.”
Luxon is telling people the deal took nine months to gestate, and will bring jobs, as Peters tells us, “Sadly, it's neither a free nor fair trade deal. In fact, it's low quality, and it's been rushed.”
Peters didn’t stop there and showed he remembered the name of his country and what his party stands for, despite forgetting all that when it came to foreign ownership of houses.
“I spent my whole career trying to stand up for a country called New Zealand, and this is a deal that does not defend our interests. It favours Indian interests. And that's why, sadly, it's a bad deal.” - Peters.
Winston was always going to play the immigrant card in this election. It will find fertile ground at a time of high unemployment, but what Peters seems to forget, or ignore, is that these same immigrants often fill roles that are vital to our society.
From RNZ:
Nithin Mankeel is an elder care nurse, and his wife, Aparna Jayandhan Geetha, works as a senior healthcare assistant. However, their child, 5-year-old Aidhan Nithin, will not be allowed to live here due to autism and the related costs; barring intervention, the family will have to return to India.
Is that the sort of Aotearoa we want? Apart from anything else, we desperately need trained, experienced healthcare professionals.
Nelson MP Rachel Boyack said, “You can't recruit essential health workers into New Zealand and then deport their child. If Aidhan is deported, then the family will leave as well. And that will be a massive loss for Nelson.”
Winston will target immigrants from the subcontinent while saying nothing of those coming from Canada or the UK. Yes, we need to limit immigration based on infrastructure availability and our job market, but things aren't as black-and-white as Winston portrays them.
We have problems with resourcing healthcare and with unemployment, but ratcheting up xenophobia against immigrants is not the answer.
And it’s not the sort of Aotearoa I want.
I’m still on holiday, but I figured I had time for a quick one before we head to family.
Today’s song has nothing to do with Winston Peters, it’s about how to make gravy, I’m sure you know it.
Having just read today’s Korero, I’m wondering if Winnie is considering joining forces with Destiny and Tamaki, to form a new, politically genius team to keep New Zealand for New Zealanders? Only New Zealanders, no immigrants. From anywhere.
I do, however, feel that Luxon has given way too much attention to his own political ambitions by selling our country short with this FTA, which favours the other side somewhat more, just to make us feel he’s actually done something constructive for our future. Only time will tell. I don’t care where immigrants come from. If they can fill the gaps left by our own talented people who have left for greener pastures then we should embrace them gratefully for wanting to work for us. In that vein, I sent the letter below to the Herald, but haven’t seen it in print yet.Hmmm🤔
It was a disgraceful display of racism, denigration of other’s beliefs and even presence in the country. We could hear the noise from our home. I’m pleased and proud that our Sikh community didn’t lift a finger in anger at the deplorable behaviour before them.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope all your wishes are granted. ( good wishes only need apply)😀
I was appalled yesterday when I found out that Brian Tamaki and his band of bigots were protesting against a Sikh event in Manurewa. Two things come very strongly to mind, both of which Tamaki might ponder. First, the Manurewa Sikh community does a huge deal of good for the community as a whole, particularly with food banks and general help for those who need it. Destiny does nothing apart from planting a few adherents on a street corner to yell at passersby about their version of salvation, irritating everyone around, every weekend.
I would ask Tamaki one thing which I don’t think he has an answer for. How does he reconcile his apparent belief in a foreign religion introduced by immigrants with his hatred for immigrants who don’t follow his ideas? I am Christian myself but have no trouble with those immigrants who have a different faith or culture, practised peacefully among their families and shared among the communities where they live. Live and let live is at the heart of Christianity, not bigotry and racism. Mr Tamaki would do well to have a proper read of the book he claims to follow.
I wonder how well an anti immigrant policy will fly here? Certainly nowhere near as well as Farage's idiocies in England. Most pakeha here are no more than 3 or 4 generations away from being immigrants themselves. Then there are people like me, who are immigrants - I wasn't born here.