Amnesty International are right to criticise NZ

Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard calls on New Zealand to lift its game

One of the issues she’ll be raising here is New Zealand’s lack of specific climate-related visas for Pacific Islanders impacted by climate change.

Our current immigration pathways that exclude older people, and those with disabilities or a medical condition, have also been called out for violating international human rights law.

In fact, according to Amnesty International’s scorecard, New Zealand has little cause to be smug.

Its 2025 report, “The State of the World’s Human Rights”, criticises new legislation that undermines Māori rights, including the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, the abolition of the Māori Health Authority and the erosion of Māori wards.

Also highlighted is New Zealand’s fall by seven places to 41st in the Climate Change Performance Index, and the undermining of environmental protections under the Fast-track Approvals Bill.

Callamard has noted New Zealand’s decision not to recognise Palestine as a state, a stance that was out of step with traditional allies such as Britain, Australia, Canada and France but a similar position to countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. It’s clear Callamard thinks it’s time we lifted our game

As one of the oldest and continuous Democracies on Earth, New Zealand has an obligation to stand for human rights,  an obligation that has been undermined by this current Government.

The attack on indigenous rights, the high incarceration rates of indigenous people, our refusal to provide climate change refugee status to our Pacific brothers and sisters while doing nothing on climate change  and our decision not to recognise Palestine are all direct results of this Government and they are worthy of sneering contempt and criticism from an organisation with the mana of Amnesty International.

Agnes Callamard has the moral authority to criticise NZ to our faces and we need to have the integrity to hear those criticisms.

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