NZ First to refugees: Love us or leave us

New arrivals must sign up to Kiwi values or ship out, say delegates

Migrants and refugees will have to respect New Zealand values or be shipped back to “where they came from” under a bill to be discussed by the New Zealand First caucus.

The Respecting New Zealand Values Bill was drawn up by NZ First’s Clayton Mitchell on behalf of Tauranga party members. The idea already has the backing of leader Winston Peters.

He wasn’t at the party’s annual conference in Tauranga yesterday morning when it was being debated but told reporters later if people coming to New Zealand “didn’t want to salute this country’s law” they shouldn’t be here.

“If you’re coming to this country as a refugee, surely you respect the country . . . In the case of some refugees, if you’ve gone past 42 other countries that have your religion for one that does not, why wouldn’t you actually have some respect for the new country you’ve come to and their religions,” Peters said.

It was a hotly debated motion, one delegate saying we should have a citizenship test because “[they’ve] got to learn how to be disciplined in our country ways”.

“I’m afraid we’re getting some certain types creeping in, of various nationalities, or various ideas, that are not actually kosher with New Zealand’s way of life,” said Roger Melville of Wairarapa.

Another delegate said New Zealanders welcomed immigrants who wanted to help build New Zealand: “We will not put up with nonsense like what has happened overseas, people coming in and creating a lot of trouble.”

Mitchell read the preamble of the Respecting New Zealand Values Bill, which said “immigrants must agree to respect New Zealand’s values and to live a life that demonstrates that they respect New Zealand values”.

The bill included respect for gender equality, religious freedom and New Zealand law. Mitchell said it meant refugees and migrants had to sign up to our values or be “sent home”.

He told the the intention of the bill, which would be discussed by the party’s caucus now it had been passed by delegates, was to ensure migrants and refugees knew when they came here what they were signing up to.

“Those values are largely based on egalitarian thought and Christian views, not that

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you have to be a Christian or a Catholic to enjoy that.

“We’ve just got to ensure that everybody who comes to this country is tolerant of the way New Zealand behaves . . .”

Internal Affairs Minister and fellow New Zealand First MP

Tracey Martin said the bill sounded great on paper but it was trying to fix something that was already being managed under other legislation. She suggested a citizenship test might be a better option.

Greens immigration spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman said it was important the debate wasn’t used to bring out racist sentiment that could cause real harm.

“The Greens don’t think this kind of thing is a priority for

Parliament to consider but we will assess the bill if and when it comes through the Parliament.”

Act was likely to support it, leader David Seymour saying it came straight from his party’s website.