Web Desk(National Times)- A senior New Zealand minister has sparked outrage by deriding a planned free trade deal with India as a \u201cbutter chicken tsunami\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wellington is poised to sign a free trade agreement with India in New Delhi next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The New Zealand government has hailed it as a \u201conce in a generation\u201d deal that will give its businesses access to the world\u2019s most populated country\u2019s vast domestic market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But its ruling coalition partner, the right-wing populist NZ First party, has pulled support over fears it will open the country\u2019s borders to thousands of Indian nationals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The split will mean the government will need the opposition Labour Party to vote in favour when legislation goes before parliament in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, the party\u2019s deputy leader and Minister for Regional Development, Shane Jones, said his party would \u201cnever accept\u201d the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care how much criticism we get, I am just never going to agree with a butter chicken tsunami coming to New Zealand,\u201d Jones told Reality Check Radio<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The comments were widely condemned as racist by Indian community groups in New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly worrying for everybody,\u201d Shanti Patel, president of the Auckland Indian Association, told public broadcaster RNZ<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And opposition lawmaker Priyanca Radhakrishnan described them as \u201coutright racism\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable and politicians shouldn\u2019t be making statements like he has,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Jones\u2019 comments were \u201cunhelpful\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Officials have told AFP<\/em> the deal could see more than 20,000 Indian migrants entering the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NZ First has also pointed to concerns about a NZ$34 billion (US$20bn) investment New Zealand is bound by the deal to make in India over a 15-year period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Labour Party officials are yet to decide whether they will support it, citing similar concerns regarding that investment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Web Desk(National Times)- A senior New Zealand minister has sparked outrage by deriding a planned free trade deal with India as a \u201cbutter chicken tsunami\u201d. Wellington is poised to sign a free trade agreement with India in New Delhi next week. The New Zealand government has hailed it as a \u201conce in a generation\u201d deal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n