The Parent Boost Visa, set to open on 29 September 2025, allows migrant New Zealanders to sponsor parents for extended stays, provided they meet health, income, and insurance criteria. Luxon claims it’ll drive economic growth. The problem...Stats NZ already reports a net migration gain of 133,800 in the year to January 2024, a record high, with migrants from India, the Philippines, and China fuelling a population growth rate of nearly 3%. That’s a colossal strain on a country already struggling with low investment in infrastructure, particularly of concern since the National-led government is cutting, in real terms, funding for infrastructure and essential services.
Auckland, in particular, groans under rapid population growth, with no matching investment in services. In December 2023 Luxon himself called New Zealand's high immigration “unsustainable” when the numbers were around 100’000 per year. Yet here he is, announcing policies to promote immigration in a desperate attempt to increase investment in our overpriced housing market. National's new immigration policy is also giving right-wing fascists like Brian Tamaki the ability to recruit new members.
National’s promise to “bring families together” rings hollow when the policy slams the door on anyone without high incomes or significant savings. But the backlash isn’t just from policy wonks or migrant advocates. Many of National’s core supporters, those who cheer “tough on immigration” rhetoric, are apoplectic. They’re not upset about the cost; they’re furious about any policy that appears to open the doors to more “foreigners." Posts brimming with xenophobic bile decry the visa as a betrayal, with some calling it a “sellout to globalists.” It’s a bitter irony: a policy meant to appeal to skilled and wealthy migrants has instead alienated the bigoted base National and ACT have long courted.
Right-wing racists in particular are frothing like never before, slamming the visa as “stupidity” that burdens New Zealanders, accusing Luxon of prioritising “foreign nationals looking for an easy ride” over locals. However, negative sentiments are also being expressed in online forums in India and the Philippines, where some migrant communities see it as a cynical grab for wealthy parents’ cash while ignoring the broader impacts.
Yesterday, Indian Newslink reported:
For many middle-class Indian families, these financial thresholds may be difficult to meet. The cost of living in New Zealand is already high and meeting the income requirement while supporting a family can be challenging.
Additionally, accumulating the required savings may not be feasible for many parents, particularly those who have retired or do not have substantial financial assets.
…
For middle-class Indian families, securing private health insurance that meets these criteria can be costly. Many Indian parents rely on government healthcare in India, which is significantly more affordable than private insurance in New Zealand. The requirement to maintain continuous private health insurance for up to ten years adds a financial burden that may be difficult for families to sustain.
Then there’s NZ First, who campaigned in 2023 on slashing immigration, labelling it unsustainable for the very reasons now playing out: housing shortages, hospital waitlists, crumbling roads...the list goes on and on. Winston Peters waxed lyrical about raising permanent residency requirements and tying migration to economic needs, not family reunions.
But since the Parent Boost Visa policy dropped like a lead balloon on Sunday, Peters has gone quieter than a church mouse. This is a man who built a career on fiery anti-immigration rhetoric, once telling Indian communities to “catch the next flight home” if they didn’t like his policies. Now, as Luxon’s lapdog, he’s complicit in a policy that flies in the face of his party’s core campaign promises and the coalition agreement’s supposed focus on infrastructure-led growth.
Luxon's immigration flip-flop exposes a government more interested in photo-ops rather than addressing people's cost-of-living concerns or the countries infrastructure problems. Peters’ silence is a betrayal of his base, who, for whatever reasons, voted for a brake on migration. With housing even more unaffordable and other required infrastructure lagging, the Parent Boost Visa isn’t really a boost at all. It's a desperate attempt to stop the economy from tanking and another opportunity for a diversionary tactic to take the focus off of what really matters.
