Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had to make a personal explanation in the House last night, after he stated incorrectly that the Government was automatically extending visas for people in New Zealand affected by the war in Iran.
By Lillian Hanly of RNZ
The Greens co-leader says he "snuck" into the House "late last night" to correct the record, and it shows he's "not across his brief".
"He simply does not seem to understand the weight of the things that he is talking about, or the substance or logic that sits behind them," Chlöe Swarbrick said.
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister admitted he "misspoke" when he said New Zealand supported "any actions" to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons.
The Foreign Minister joined Breakfast to speak about the latest updates from the Middle East. (Source: 1News)
She said it's disconcerting to have a leader of New Zealand talking about things that are "currently so much of a powder keg" and every time he opens his mouth, "we have no idea how that is going to place our country in the context of the very tense international relations at play".
In Question Time yesterday, Swarbrick asked Luxon if the Government would commit to automatically extending visas for people who are in New Zealand now, whose home countries have been affected by the war, as happened in the context of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Luxon responded, saying, "I understand that we are doing that, and the Minister of Immigration will continue to take advice on that too".
That was in contradiction to what his Immigration Minister Erica Stanford had said earlier that day, where she advised anyone who might be affected by the conflict to contact Immigration New Zealand.
"If they contact Immigration, we will be really pragmatic about making sure that they remain legally in New Zealand."
She said it would be considered on a case-by-case basis, and the current visa that may be expiring could be extended.
Swarbrick said on Wednesday the Prime Minister had effectively said a blanket extension was happening when "we know it wasn't happening".
"So [the Prime Minister] then snuck into the house at 9.02pm I believe, late last night, to correct the record and to say that there was a case-by-case process, which we all already knew, available to those people."
At 9.03pm last night, Luxon sought leave to make a personal explanation.
"To be perfectly clear, Immigration New Zealand has a well-established process for international conflicts, and will facilitate and take a pragmatic approach to visa renewal when people are unable to return home," he explained.
Reza Nazar Ahari described the strikes as "explicit aggression" and a violation of the UN Charter. (Source: 1News)
"This was not an automatic process in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, and decisions will continue to be taken on individual visas."
Swarbrick told RNZ he also "misspoke" or "got his correction incorrect" when he said there wasn't a blanket extension applied during the war in Ukraine.
"We have it in black and white from a Cabinet paper," she said.
The paper stated Cabinet agreed to "extend by 12 months the visas of all Ukrainians onshore whose temporary visas were due to expire by the end of 2022".
She said the extension meant people didn't have to go through an arduous "case-by-case" basis to have them extended.
Swarbrick said she was now expecting the Prime Minister to have to "correct his correction". She said politicians were human beings, "all of us will screw up, we will stumble over our words, we will also make mistakes."
"But I think there is quite a substantive difference between that and what the Prime Minister has modelled time and again, but very evidently over the last few days, which is that he is not across his brief."
A spokesperson for the PM said:
"Ukrainians caught in New Zealand on temporary visas when Russia initially invaded Ukraine had to apply to Immigration New Zealand for an extension on a case-by-case basis. That is currently the same situation for Iranians.
"The process for Ukraine extensions has changed multiple times as the conflict has dragged on.
"It is early days for the Iran conflict and the Immigration Minister is monitoring the situation."
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