I took a look at the "Annex 8K" section of the India/NZ FTA, as I'd seen some noise about it on other social media platforms. In this Annex, "Executives", "Managers", and "Specialists" employed by a "...Party with a commercial presence in New Zealand." are eligible for a three year temporary visa. Using this temporary visa, they can bring their partner and any dependent children they have under 20 years of age. At the top of Annex 8K, there's a reference to Article 8C.3 (Grant of Temporary Entry), which states in section 4:
In respect of the commitments on temporary entry in this Annex, neither
Party shall:
(a) adopt or maintain any limitations on the total number of each
category of natural persons of the other Party to be granted
temporary entry;
Am I crazy, or does this give any Indian company with a NZ presence carte blanche to bring in as many people (and their families) as they wish? As far as I can tell from our existing immigration laws, people on temporary visas can apply for residence visas, and after two years, for permanent residence.
If so, I'd love to see our media grill the parties backing this on these points. This could suppress wages, provide Indian companies with a hiring advantage over kiwi-owned Accredited Employers, and fuck our unemployment rate up even more.
I've attached screenshots of the parts I've quoted, and the full FTA is available on the mfat website here: https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/free-trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements-concluded-but-not-in-force/new-zealand-india-free-trade-agreement/text-of-the-agreement