Opinion: Brian Tamaki, a frequent flyer on the outrage express, is upset. Again. This time he is not happy – angry, in fact – that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon prayed at a gurdwara in Delhi last week.
Don’t be surprised. If anything, get used to it.
Luxon’s push to get a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) across the line with what will soon be the world’s third-biggest economy is a fertile hunting ground for the leader of Destiny Church, which is known for its far-right, provocative worldview.
Tamaki took to social media this week to draw a baffling conclusion. The prime minister, he said, wasn’t a “real patriot” because he visited Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi during his trip to India last week.
“Who’s the real patriot here?...Luxon, wearing a Sikh head covering and bowing to foreign gods on his trip to India…Or me,” he posted, along with a picture of Luxon at the Sikh temple.
The less said, the better. Ethnic communities minister Mark Mitchell put it succinctly. “Grow up,” he replied to Tamaki’s post. “Targeting minority or ethnic groups in our country seems to be becoming a sport for you. Not very Christian-like behaviour and definitely not Kiwi behaviour.”
What Tamaki has said should hardly be a surprise. He is speaking to his constituency – those on the right-wing edge of democracy nervous about what they feel is a takeover of their country by migrants.
According to the 2023 Census, the Indian community has overtaken the Chinese population to become the third-largest ethnic group, with 292,092 people identifying as Indian—a 22 per cent increase since 2018.
In October last year, Tamkai had described the immigration of Indians to New Zealand as an “invasion”.
He expressed concerns over Indians dominating various sectors, including petrol stations, restaurants, trucking, and the logging industry. “They are everywhere and anywhere,” he said.
We can only expect more such tirades from Tamaki, given the National-led government has demonstrated exceptional zeal to cut an FTA with India.
After nearly nine years, the two countries last week launched negotiations for a deal during Luxon’s trip to India. The prime minister took along what is being described as the biggest-ever delegation New Zealand has ever brought to India.
It’s quite a coincidence that Luxon’s visit to Rakab Ganj Sahib Gurdwara that Tamaki doesn’t like was, in fact, described as quite a coup in diplomatic circles while the prime minister was in India.
Luxon was to visit the gurdwara by himself until the evening before, when his counterpart, Narendra Modi expressed desire to accompany him on the visit. That was spontaneous.
One foreign expert on the trip later pointed to that when I asked what they thought was the high-point of Luxon’s India trip. It was seen as a reflection of the growing relations between the two leaders.
As India and New Zealand begin trade negotiations over the next few months, one can expect more camaraderie between the two sides.
Not everyone will find it enjoyable, it seems.
ISSUE
