Prime Minister Christopher Luxon ‘compartmentalises’ coalition dispute over India FTA
Monday, 29 June 2026
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has batted away yet another claim his Foreign Affairs Minister has made about the New Zealand and India Free Trade Agreement (FTA), saying he has “compartmentalised” the pair’s fundamental differences on the deal.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has been an outspoken critic of the FTA, arguing it lacks access to India’s domestic dairy market, opens New Zealand up to excess migration and imposes unfair restrictions on Indian migrants.
Each of these criticisms have been staunchly rejected by the National Party, which continues to market the FTA as a great deal for the country.
At a New Zealand First rally in Hastings on Sunday, Peters claimed National had snuck a clause relating to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into the deal.
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“That clause is directly contrary to the coalition agreement between National and New Zealand First,” he said.
“When we signed the agreement, we signed not to acknowledge UNDRIP, but behind our backs they put it in an agreement with India.”
Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet media conference on Monday afternoon, Christopher Luxon said he and Peters were “just not going to agree” on the deal.
“It’s OK to have those differences, that’s fine.
“We collaborate on many, many things. We have a fundamental difference on the Indian FTA and that's okay. We compartmentalise that.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the public would prefer Luxon and Peters were aligned on the issue.
“Christopher Luxon should make sure he's on the same page as Minister of Foreign Affairs.”
Article 13.2 of the FTA text states both parties affirm the UNDRIP “subject to their respective reservations”.
Speaking in the House last week, Trade Minister Todd McClay said the inclusion of a reference to UNDRIP doesn’t impose any obligation on New Zealand law or government policy.
Emeritus Professor of Law at Auckland University Jane Kelsey backed McClay’s assessment.
“No work or co-operation is to take place under the FTA that duplicates that in another international forum. The chapter is unenforceable.”
Kelsey also pointed out Peters was in Cabinet when it approved the New Zealand and United Arab Emirates FTA in 2025 that also included a clause about UNDRIP.
“That chapter is still unenforceable but much stronger - and they didn’t say peep about it.”
UNDRIP is a legally non-binding human rights framework adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007 to establish minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well being of indigenous people around the world.
New Zealand formalised its support for the declaration in 2010, though the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement states the government “does not recognise” UNDRIP “as having any binding legal effect on New Zealand”/