Shane Jones Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
The Indian community has lambasted Regional Development Minister Shane Jones' remarks on common Indian family names at New Zealand First's annual meeting on Saturday.
Speaking ahead of an immigration announcement at the conference on Sunday, Jones said the party would address the country's shifting demography.
Jones said New Zealand was "changing irreversibly - the demography, the character and the make-up of society".
Speaking to reporters afterwards, the minister said the most common baby names had become "Singh, Patel" but "no one campaigned on it".
"[If you] want to change in a profound way the culture, the character, the make-up of your society, go and campaign on it," Jones said.
Appearing on RNZ's First Up on Tuesday, New Zealand historian Harpreet Singh explained the backdrop behind common Indian family names in the country.
A lot many Singhs and Patels reflected the culture and geography from where Indian migration to New Zealand had happened historically, said Singh, whose family has been living in the country for more than 120 years.
"For over a century, attacking these communities [Asian, Indian, Chinese and other minorities] have been the calling card for politicians," Singh said.
"Whether it be the 'Hindu Peril', the 'Yellow Peril', the cartoons, the legislation - they [politicians] have always targeted them [minority communities in New Zealand].
"It's a pattern used by politicians to deal with bad economy and bad policies."
Although little has been documented about the role played by Indian migrants from the state of Punjab - mainly Singhs - in helping Waikato to become the country's dairy production powerhouse, it is generally believed more than 100 Indian families are now engaged in dairy farming in the region.
Third-generation Indian New Zealander Ajit Singh Randhawa highlighted migrant contributions to the country.
"For more than a century, names like Singh and Patel have stood for hard work, sacrifice and nation-building in New Zealand - from farms and factories to shops and hospitals," Randhawa said.
"As a third-generation Kiwi Singh, I see our name not as a threat, but as a promise that we will keep strengthening the country we proudly call home."
Ajit's grandfather, Inder Singh Randhawa, was one of the early Indian migrants to New Zealand, and a founding member of pioneering Indian associations such as the Country Section New Zealand Indian Association and New Zealand Indian Central Association, which were both established in 1926.
"Singh and Patel are not just surnames, they are signatures written into New Zealand's story of grit, enterprise and belonging," Randhawa said.
"To question that legacy is to ignore the very hands that helped build this nation."
Ajit's son, Navtej Singh Randhawa, was instrumental in releasing a new documentary in June titled Punjab to Aotearoa detailing the history of Indian migration to New Zealand over the past 100 years.
It details how the community has grown from six Indians counted in the 1881 Census to become New Zealand's third-largest ethnic population by 2023.
In 2024, Singh topped the list of family names registered for newborns in New Zealand for the seventh consecutive year.
"That's because of the naming convention used by the Sikhs, bestowed on them by their gurus a couple of centuries ago," Harpreet said.
"Singh is simply a last name used for Sikh males, like Kaur is used for Sikh females."
Shanti Patel, who curated an exhibition titled Asha ka Darwaza (Doorways of Hope) in Auckland last year, which traced the rich history of New Zealand's Indian community, also highlighted the ways in which New Zealand had benefitted greatly from the contributions of Singhs and Patels, especially in the 1960s and '70s.
"[Mainly] in the market gardening sector," Patel said. "[They aided] economic growth through retail especially [selling] fruits and vegetables, and later in the dairy and the small supermarket industry, working long arduous hours.
"[These days] the children of these generations have developed as professionals in their own right despite systemic and institutional racism."
When asked how such remarks by politicians impacted the Indian community in New Zealand, Singh said they typically prompted the community to withdraw from the mainstream, which was not good for society.
"From a mental health perspective, you feel excluded," Singh said.
"It affects job prospects, it affects kids at school, it affects hate in the workplace ... it creeps into society and it affects everybody," he said.
"The problem is when they [politicians] attack the Indian community, nobody can see the difference between a fifth-generation Indian New Zealander or a recent migrant, [and] so everybody copes it.
"It's hurtful. It hurts everybody in the community. ... It affected my great-grandfather and it affects me," he said.
"That's why I am calling for this to stop," he said. "You can't keep using catcall racism to get votes."
Jones declined to comment on the community's response to his remarks.
