Damien Grant: Reading the NZ-India free trade agreement made my stress levels rise
Sunday, 3 May 2026
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective.
OPINION: “I thought butter chicken was an English dish?” retorted Act leader David Seymour, responding to Shane Jones’ tsunami warning; showing that the Epsom MP can be funny as well as principled.
We are discussing the soon-to-be ratified NZ-India free trade agreement and the opposition by Messrs Jones and Peters. It’s proving a popular strategy, but it has been my observation, perhaps unfairly, that New Zealand First can sometimes be a little, shall we say, imprecise when it comes to their interpretation of the facts. So I decided to read the agreement.
This was a mistake. It runs to 1364 pages and, well, the honorarium I earn for these columns does not extend that far. But the appendix that covers the impending tidal wave is easy to find, if not understand. The exercise did induce a rise in my stress levels as I tried to work out what we had agreed to.
We are obligated to offer visas for 100 yoga instructors, 250 chefs, 50 music instructors and, best of all, 200 Ayush practitioners. (Traditional medicine; I checked.) These individuals can stay for three years and must then return. We will, for the foreseeable future, have 100 visiting Indian yoga instructors willing and able to take classes. Not sure about the demand but we have the supply sorted.
In addition to these 600 artisans, the treaty allows for 1000 software engineers, 1000 civil and mechanical engineers, 700 construction managers, 500 teachers and 1200 nurses.
That’s 5000 in total. This isn’t 5000 a year. It is 5000 at any one time. And then they have to go home. In 2025 there were 17,300 migrants from India, less the 5900 who went back, and there is nothing in the agreement that prevents Wellington throttling or expanding these numbers to respond to either a skills shortage or sluggish property prices.
But what do we get in this agreement?
Currently New Zealand exports just $2 billion to India, predominantly tourism. Most export tariffs will be reduced or eliminated. This is great for those selling kiwifruit, wine, and, after seven years, infant milk formula.
What we did not get was dairy. This, as Fonterra stated, is disappointing. For a comparison we sell around $20b in total to China and $8b of that is dairy. For New Zealand, having a free trade deal without dairy is akin to a platonic marriage.
After tourism, our next biggest export sector with India is forestry. The Forest Owners Association, unlike Fonterra, are excited by the development: “India is a large, fast-growing economy and an increasingly important partner for New Zealand,” wrote their president, Elizabeth Heeg, and with growth comes construction.
Still. We are talking hundreds of millions of dollars. Not billions. And without dairy this isn’t a game-changer as the Prime Minister describes it but it is, for those industries affected, transformational.
The other nonsense being peddled by NZ First is the obligation to invest US$20binto India; this is not what the document says. The wording is clear; we shall promote foreign direct investment “…from investors of New Zealand into India with the aim to increase investment by US 20 billion dollars within 15 years…”
This is an aspiration, not a commitment. I suspect that this was included to give New Delhi cover to justify the internal political cost of reducing tariffs.
Nor is the claim that we have bound ourselves to the Paris climate change accord accurate. There are vague words of intention that I would prefer were not there, but to focus on empty statements of intent is to ignore the binding obligations.
It is significant that the Labour Party stepped up to support a treaty that was in the nation’s interest. They placed country ahead of party and for this Labour deserves our appreciation. Ironically, New Zealand First did not place New Zealand first.
This deal is not perfect. We had to give up things we did not want to in order to achieve things we did. Like the trade deal with China, the initial document isn’t the final one. It opens a bilateral economic engagement that will improve the quality of life for residents of both countries.
Luxon and his trade minister deserve respect and credit for this achievement.
Opposing this deal in preference of a better one that will never arrive in order to increase your party vote appears to be the political strategy of NZ First and, regrettably, it will probably work.
Sun Tzu never wrote the quip often attributed to him, that an evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes. This is a shame. It is a fitting line to describe the fragmentation of democracy to the extremes and the rewards that come to those willing to chase the lowest common denominator in pursuit of attention and popularity.
It’s Sunday. Maybe I shall take up yoga. I hear it is good for relaxation.
CLARIFICATION: The 5000 figure refers to provisions in Annex 8L of the Free Trade Agreement. Annex 8K allows for multiple other entry pathways to New Zealand, for periods ranging from 90 days in any 12-month period to three years, depending on the category, some of which are uncapped.