The UN migration pact is "not in New Zealand's interest" says Simon Bridges, who brushed off the suggestion the position indicated a "nationalist" outlook.
The pact aims to increase global cooperation over migration issues.
Speaking on TVNZ1's Q+A, Mr Bridges said the National Party were very much about open migration, "but the open migration pact just doesn't make sense for New Zealand".
He said New Zealand already had "excellent migration settings".
Q+A host Corin Dann said the pact came about after the migration crisis in Europe and asked, "are you saying New Zealand can just operate on its own?"
Mr Bridges said there were many occasions New Zealand needs to work with the UN, "but on this one, when we sign up to things I think it's right to read the fine print, to work out what it means".
Dann put to Mr Bridges the fact that the pact was not binding and 164 countries had already signed up to it.
"Not binding doesn't mean no effect," Mr Bridges said. "The courts will interpret it over time, it is making a case where legal and illegal migration effectively mean the same thing.
"It's not in New Zealand's interest, we've got good settings."
"We want a situation where New Zealanders can determine our own migration foreign policy settings from here, not some UN body."
"Why do you think we can do this alone?" Dann asked. "The only people who are really going alone on this one are the United States who are building a border wall, Australia which has got off shore detention centres, why do we want to be associated with those sorts of policies?"
Mr Bridges said New Zealand has good settings, "why seed sovereignty to the United Nations on this?"
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