Outrage has been triggered by New Zealand Immigration Minister Erica Stanford’s discriminatory comments on Indians, stating that she “never responds” to emails from Indians because she views them as “akin to spam” during a 6th May session in the Parliament.
She made the comment in answer to a question from Willow-Jean Prime, a Labour MP, who wanted to know if all of the emails she wrote and received about her ministerial duties using her personal account had been formally documented. This came after Stanford acknowledged that she had sent certain official correspondence including pre-Budget materials through her personal email.
“I have complied with the Official Information Act. I have also made sure that everything is available to be captured and have forwarded everything that I’ve needed to my parliamentary email address,” she pointed out.
The lawmaker then added, “I will acknowledge, though, in a very similar case to Kelvin Davis (New Zealand politician), I receive a lot of unsolicited emails like, for example, things from people in India asking for immigration advice, which I never respond to. I almost regard those as being akin to spam, and so there are those ones. But, similarly, other ministers have probably had very similar issues.”
Meanwhile, Labour MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan, who was born in Chennai, countered that Stanford negatively stereotyped Indian immigration. The immigration minister’s remarks, according to her, were “careless at best and prejudiced at worst.” She charged Stanford with cultivating unfavorable preconceptions about Indians.
She also remarked that it was deplorable that the immigration minister singled out members of a certain ethnic group and “wrote them all off” by claiming their emails were junk and not worth answering.
“If you’re from India, don’t bother emailing her because it’s automatically considered spam. So much for the National government’s all-of-government focus on strengthening the relationship between India & New Zealand and focus on people-to-people links,” she posted on social media.
“Particularly given New Zealand’s important relationship with India, comments like these serve to reinforce negative stereotypes against an entire community of people,” Radhakrishnan expressed while talking to The Indian Weekender.
Stanford later alleged that Radhakrishnan hasn’t fully understood what she tried to convey which was that she frequently gets emails on her personal email from foreigners looking for immigration guidance. “In this instance, I recalled a recent email I’d received of this nature when answering in Question Time. I did not say it is automatically considered as spam, I said I almost regard those as being akin to spam,” she mentioned in an attempt to justify her bigoted statement.
Social media reacts
On the other hand, her comments came under fire from other New Zealand politicians and netizens as well. Former MP Willow-Jean Prime shared a report in which Prime Minister Christopher Luxon advocated for collective investment in the relationship with India. She highlighted to remind Stanford of the same and referenced her derogatory comment.
Should remind Minister of Immigration Erica Stanford who said “I receive a lot of unsolicited emails like, for example, things from people in India asking for immigration advice, which I never respond to. I almost regard those as being akin to spam.” https://t.co/QtHIfwFZkB
— Willow Prime (@WillowPrime) May 9, 2025
A user highlighted the extensive attention Stanford’s comments received in India, questioning whether she has effectively dashed Luxon’s aspirations for a New Zealand-India free trade agreement.
Given India wide coverage of stereotype remark, question is whether @EricaStanfordMP has just killed off @chrisluxonmp dreams of NZ-India free trade deal.https://t.co/9RsGKFG20K
— Michael Field (@MichaelFieldNZ) May 26, 2025
Another noted that New Zealand seeks to boost bilateral trade and sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India and referenced Standford’s commnets as concerning. The person further asked, “What do you expect from India?”
New Zealand wants to increase bilateral trade & sign a FTA with India
— kiran (@garikipatikiran) May 19, 2025
On the other hand,Minister Erica Stanford comment in Parliament about Indian's is concerning
What do you expect from India?@NZinIndia@MFATNZ @NewZealandMFA @winstonpeters @sidhant @ShivAroor@firstpost pic.twitter.com/zy44MdpMcW
Indians in New Zealand
According to the 2023 New Zealand Census, 292,092 individuals reported Indian heritage, positioning the Indian community as the third-largest ethnic group within the country. This indicates a 22% growth since 2018. The Indian demographic in New Zealand has been on a steady rise, having increased significantly from 65,000 in 2001.
Approximately 7,300 Indian students were enrolled in New Zealand’s educational system in 2024. It is projected that 22,225 Indian students will be studying in New Zealand by 2025. Indian pupil intake is expected to increase by 93.9% between 2025 and 2030 from 22,225 to 24,594 students which made New Zealand an appealing alternative to more conventional study abroad options.
Additionally, New Zealand is home to around 221,400 Indian immigrants. Furthermore, the government lowered the three-year work experience requirement for migrants to two years, in January. Indian workers, who contribute a multitude of abilities to the New Zealand labor market, were anticipated to gain from this modification.
New Zealand also updated its employment and immigration regulations in multiple ways. These policies aimed to alleviate the labor deficit and draw in qualified people, providing improved prospects for migrants, many of whom are Indians and are vital to the nation’s labor force.
On one hand, PM Luxon reaffirmed the significance of India to New Zealand and referred to it as a big geopolitical power and a critical participant in global and regional security. “Our relationship with India is so significant that I want to see an ‘all of New Zealand’ effort, with government, business and community all moving in the same direction,” he declared at the India New Zealand Business Council summit which took place earlier in Month.
On the other hand, the Indian population including students and workers, is consistently growing in New Zealand. The latter is also striving to attract as many Indians into its economy for its own benefit.
However, on the flip side, the racist and discriminatory statements from ministers like Stanford have the potential to undo the progress attained in the bilateral relations and disrupt the fragile friendship. Additionally, such remarks could create anxiety and concern within the Indian community, many of whom might genuinely need assistance from her ministry.
This could generate apprehension and inflict real detriment on many such candidates seeking to go to New Zealand for work or study. The bigoted comments could even harm the future relations between the two countries.
