Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour has suggested requiring migrants coming to New Zealand to sign a “values statement” should be Government policy.
He’s also spoken of how some people criticise immigration and promise to “get rid of it”, but then do nothing when they are in power.
Introducing a values statement is not a new idea. The Act leader mentioned it in 2016 after an increase to New Zealand’s refugee quota, while NZ First leader Winston Peters at the time accused “toy MP” Seymour of stealing his party’s policy.
Seymour’s new comments come shortly after Peters told the Herald last week that people arriving here shouldn’t be able to “get out of the water or out of the sky” without the precondition that “they accept what we’re setting here”.
Peters said there was concern in some European countries about “people who have come there who don’t salute the flag, don’t salute the values of the country, don’t salute the people who were there before them, don’t respect the right to have your own religion”.
“These sorts of things are values that we need to stress. If you don’t subscribe to that, don’t come here,” he said.
Asked about immigration concerns on Newstalk ZB this week, Seymour noted that in 2016 he had made the point that “we should actually have a New Zealand values statement”.
“That’s not the Government’s policy. But I suspect it should be,” the Act leader said.
He said that “if you want to be part of New Zealand”, people should “sign up to” ideas such as “men and women are equal”, “someone’s sexuality or religion is a private matter”, “we have certain rights before the law” and “we have free speech”.
The Act Party’s constitution makes mention of this idea as an example of a policy that reflects its principles.
“Any person seeking New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency should be required to affirm that they subscribe to the democratic and civil rights enunciated in sections 12-18 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.”
These sections of the Bill of Rights Act relate to the likes of freedom of peaceful assembly, expression and association.
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said a values statement is not something the minister has raised with officials or been advised on.
“The minister’s work programme has been focused on restoring stability and predictability to the immigration system – getting net migration under control, prioritising higher skilled migrants, reducing migrant exploitation, speeding up visa processing, supporting additional foreign investment for New Zealand, and fit for purpose settings across work, study and visitor visas.”
Unlike New Zealand, Australia does have a values statement that most temporary, provisional or permanent visa applicants must sign or accept.
This includes confirming they understand “Australian society values”, like “respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual”, “freedom of religion (including the freedom not to follow a particular religion), freedom of speech, and freedom of association”, and “commitment to the rule of law”.
The Australian Home Affairs Department says by accepting the statement, migrants are “undertaking to conduct yourself in accordance with Australian values and to obey Australian laws during your stay in Australia”.
In 2016, Peters, who is now in a coalition Government with Seymour, suggested the Act leader was stealing NZ First’s policy.
“Being a secretive admirer of New Zealand First is no excuse for plagiarising that party’s leader’s statements,” the Herald reported Peters as saying at the time. He also described Seymour as a “toy MP”.
Peters said at the time that migrants should be interviewed at the border to ensure they respect New Zealand “views”.
Two years later, then-NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell proposed the Respecting New Zealand Values Bill, which would have required refugees and migrants to sign up to New Zealand values. These were identified as including respect for gender equality, religious freedom and New Zealand law.
While speaking with Newstalk ZB, Seymour also said there were some people who say, “immigration is terrible, vote for me [and] I will get rid of it”.
“But they don’t actually stop immigration when they get into power,” he said.
Seymour said he believed the reason for that was because business owners know “you can’t succeed when you only have 5 million people to pick from when your competitors around the world are operating in labour markets of half a billion”.
Peters last week told the Herald he was concerned with the number of migrants entering New Zealand and said it remained NZ First’s view that immigration shouldn’t be “an excuse for our failure to train, skill and employ our own people”.
His comments about the “alarming development” overseas of “careless immigration policies transforming cities” received criticism from Opposition parties.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Monday said Peters was entitled to have his own views.
“What I am focused on is making sure I advance New Zealand’s national interests, economic and security. Immigration will always be on our terms and in the interest of New Zealand,” Luxon said.
“He is entitled as a political party leader to make comments about his observations of other countries. My job as Prime Minister of New Zealand is to say I am focused on making sure we have the right immigration settings for ourselves in order for us to grow our economy.”
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.