A New Zealand politician has been praised for his response to a hostile question from a journalist who suggested he shouldn’t be discussing immigration.
Shane Jones, deputy leader of right-wing party New Zealand First and Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, was being interviewed by 1News Political Editor Maiki Sherman on Thursday when the exchange occurred.
“Do you think that could cause social disharmony, pushing issues, contentious issues, such as immigration?” Ms Sherman asked.
“We have five-and-a-half per cent of unemployment in the country, why on Earth do we need more Uber drivers if we’re already struggling with that level of unemployment?” Mr Jones responded.
Shane Jones : “Why does New Zealand need more Uber drivers ?” 👏
today In response to Maiki Sherman asking if NZfirst is causing social disharmony by addressing a contentious issue like … ‘immigration’.
The left : HOW DARE YOU BRING UP IMMIGRATION YOU RACIST!” https://t.co/Fq0p4GjU3T pic.twitter.com/JoevMbU96s
— Holyhekatuiteka (@2ETEKA) January 22, 2026
New Zealanders responded positively to the response when it was shared in a video by popular X commentator Holyhekatuiteka.
“It’s great to finally hear a politician say it. I’ve been saying the same thing for the past year,” one said.
“Saying what we all think,” said another.
“Immigration? We need NZ First to focus on mass deportations,” remarked a third.
On the same day Mr Jones put out a statement on his Facebook page saying: “The moment you make it easier for immigration, you then get all the tack-ons. Mark my words.
“If we continue to pursue immigration out of India the way that we’ve been doing, by 2040, I predict that a quarter of our population will be from that part of the world. If that’s what you want, you go and campaign on it. New Zealand First doesn’t want that.”
His comments come after New Zealand First criticised Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s Free Trade Agreement with India, which critics fear will lead to even higher levels of Indian immigration.
Mr Jones also spoke about mass immigration this week following growing public anger about mainly Chinese immigrant seafood gatherers, dubbed “bucket people” by locals in coastal communities, stripping beaches and rockpools of marine life.
The issue sparked a protest in Army Bay near Auckland on Saturday, and Mr Jones noted that much of the gathering was organised on Chinese-language social media, RNZ reported.
“The more you have unfettered immigration to New Zealand, the more threat there is to social cohesion and the established rules that we take as our basic culture,” Jones said.
“There are threats to our seafood rock pool life from migrant communities not knowing the rules.”
Far-left Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan then accused Mr Jones of using “racist rhetoric”, to which the NZ First MP responded: “The majority of the people scouring the rock pools are from the migrant community.
“They are Asian. We need to educate and we need to cause people to understand they must embrace the culture of the host society. New Zealand First has always had a doubting Thomas attitude to unfettered immigration.
“The more our demography changes, the more it’s important that politicians … remind all people seeking a new home in New Zealand that when in Rome, you do as the Romans do.”
Header image: Shane Jones (1News).
