9. RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Internal Affairs
What reports, if any, has he received on possible changes to qualification criteria for New Zealand citizenship?
Hon RICK BARKER (Minister of Internal Affairs) Link to this
I have received a report that describes New Zealand’s current citizenship oaths as “timeless oaths” and notes that with “a country like ours with a short history, we should not move to change them without good reason.” I have seen a second report stating: “we cannot support the bill going forward in respect of the Citizenship and Parliamentary Oaths.” The first report was from Dr Richard Worth MP and the second was from the National Party minority report on the Oaths Modernisations Bill.
Russell Fairbrother Link to this
What other reports has the Minister seen on possible changes to qualification criteria for New Zealand citizenship?
I have also seen a report that potential citizens of New Zealand should “share bedrock values”, including “an acceptance of democracy and the rule of law, religious and personal freedom, and legal equality of the sexes” and that on that basis “we may need to look at the oath of allegiance, for example to work out what it is that people are signing up for when they become New Zealand citizens.” Either Dr Brash was not aware of National Party policy or this is just another National Party flip-flop.
Russell Fairbrother Link to this
Has the Minister seen any alternative policy on possible changes to qualification criteria for New Zealand citizenship?
Yes, I have. I have seen a report that states: “Fathers are the breadwinners; mothers stay at home.” I have seen another report that states: “I cannot speak for the Exclusive Brethren” but goes on to state: “If you don’t believe in these values”—those values being the rule of law, religious and personal freedom, and legal equality of the sexes—“then perhaps New Zealand isn’t the place you should move to.” The first was the view of the multimillion-dollar funder of the National Party, the Exclusive Brethren; the second was the view of its good friend Dr Don Brash, the leader of the National Party. Perhaps Don Brash was right when he said that too much bad red wine is bad for you, after all.
Pansy WongI seek leave to table an email from the Department of Labour to other officials, which states that the Minister of Finance and the then Minister of Immigration the Hon Lianne Dalziel said that we should forget about immigration criteria, and simply sell New Zealand citizenship at the price of between $5 million and $10 million per person.