The National Party has named five Kiwi-Indian candidates for the October 2023 elections, more candidates of Indian ethnicity than ever before in its history. Three of them are from Auckland: Siva Kilari from Manurewa, Mahesh Muralidhar from Auckland Central and Navtej Randhawa from Panmure-Otahuhu. Ankit Bansal has been fielded from Palmerston North and Karunanidhi (Karuna) Muthu from Rongotai in the national capital of Wellington.
National leader Christopher Luxon spoke to The Indian Weekender about the party’s strategy, increasing Kiwi-Indian representation and more.
Q1. So far, the National Party has announced five Kiwi-Indian candidates for the October elections. What is your take on the increased Indian representation in New Zealand politics?
It's fantastic. I want this to be a national National Party, reflecting all of New Zealand’s diversity. Throughout my career, I’ve found that teams are most successful when they are diverse and include a wide range of experiences and perspectives.
Indian New Zealanders have worked so hard to get ahead for themselves, their families and the community. They've taken two or three jobs often to save up for that deposit for their house or business. They're a great role model to all New Zealanders, and they're now represented in all strata of New Zealand life. It is important they are represented in politics too.
Q2. What is your take on the increasing Kiw-Indian diaspora and its importance in the country?
Indian New Zealanders have made a significant contribution to New Zealand. Our country is a much richer place, both economically and culturally, because of its strong, vibrant and hard-working Indian community.
Q3. What are your key priorities for the upcoming elections?
A National government will take New Zealand forward. Our priorities are reducing the cost of living, lifting incomes for all, building infrastructure for the future, restoring law and order, and delivering better health and education.
We are in a cost-of-living crisis – New Zealanders struggle to pay for groceries, rent and mortgages. Crime is up, our health system is struggling, and our children are doing worse at school.
National has announced several policies over the last six months. Our policies are on our website, national.org.nz, and we'll announce more in the coming weeks.
National will manage the economy well and will deal with the causes of inflation by reining in government spending, stopping adding new costs to businesses, fixing worker shortages, focusing the Reserve Bank solely on meeting a low inflation target and adjusting tax brackets for inflation so New Zealanders can keep more of their earnings.
Q4. What are the biggest challenges, and how do you plan to deal with them?New Zealanders are telling us they are most worried about a worsening economy and the cost of living.
Labour has no economic strategy except to spend more money. The government is now spending $1 billion more each week compared with 2017 when the National was in government. That's a yearly increase of nearly $23,000 per household of public spending, and there's nothing to show for it.
New Zealand needs a serious turnaround. It's become a country where it's hard to get things done. We're going in the wrong direction. Not only are we not realising all that endless potential we have, but we're also going backwards.
Q5. The migrant and small business community, especially Kiwi Indians, have been worst hit by increasing crime. How do you plan to deal with it?
All New Zealanders feel less safe after six years of a soft-on-crime Labour government. Retail crime is up 40 per cent in the last 12 months, and in 2022 there was a ram raid every 10 hours. That is terrifying and stressful for business owners and communities. It is a fundamental right that people should feel safe in their own homes, business and community.
A National government will restore law and order so New Zealanders feel safe again,
National will back Police and tackle gangs – with more police powers to stop gangs gathering in public, making it harder for gang members to access firearms and banning gang patches in public places. We will also introduce Youth Military Academies for serious, repeat youth offenders, who are the main perpetrators of the tsunami of retail crime we are seeing.
Q6. What are your plans to make New Zealand a globally sought-after destination for migrants?
Ensuring New Zealand is an attractive destination for skilled migrants is critical during this global war for talent. The current immigration settings under Labour are a significant handbrake on our economy, making the cost-of-living crisis worse.
National plans to ease the labour shortage that Labour has presided over. We will focus Immigration New Zealand on processing visitor and work visas as fast as possible and refund application fees for working holidaymakers if they arrive before a specific date to encourage arrivals over the winter period.
We will scrap the median wage requirement and replace it with an industry average that reflects skills and experience. We will also streamline the Accredited Employer Work Visa by scraping the job check and folding it into the visa application as was previously the case.
We will utilise the Green List more to provide pathways to residence for skilled migrants and reinstate student work rights to attract more students to New Zealand.
We will also maintain open work rights for partners of work visa holders because a skilled worker will only choose to come to New Zealand if their partner can work.
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