2024 In Review: A Year Of Milestones For The Indian Community In New Zealand

Monday, 30 December 2024, 2:54 pm
Article: RNZ

Gaurav Sharma, senior journalist

The Indian community in New Zealand celebrated a year of milestones in 2024.

In October, official results from the 2023 Census confirmed that New Zealand's Indian population had overtaken the Chinese community to become the third-largest ethnic group in the country.

What's more, Kiwi Indians celebrated a significant rise in the community's median personal income - the highest among all ethnicities.

The data released in October showed the median income of Indian adults in New Zealand was $51,600. By comparison, the median income for the country's overall population was $41,500.

A total of 292,092 people in the country claimed Indian heritage in the 2023 Census, an increase of 22 percent since 2018.

Indians have been living in New Zealand for more than a century, as is evident from the myriad names assigned to streets, suburbs and geographical locations that can be traced to an Indian origin.

A census taken in 1881 showed that six Indians were living in New Zealand at the time.

The Auckland Indian Association, established in 1920, retraced the [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/indonz/534436/tracing-the-history-of-indian-migration-to-new-zealand history of Indian migration to New Zealand with an exhibition at Eden Terrace's Mahatma Gandhi Centre that was displayed through November.

Law and order remained an important issue for the community in 2024, with several Indian organisations expressing ongoing disappointment at what they saw as a lack of progress in curbing violent retail crime.

The government responded in September by creating a ministerial advisory group on retail crime, with two Indian New Zealanders - Dairy and Business Owners Group chair Sunny Kaushal and former ACT Party electoral candidate Himanshu Parmar - as members.

Community-owned jewellery stores faced the brunt of aggravated robberies this year, leading to calls to curb youth offenders.

In a bit of good news for the community, the government in December said the number of serious and persistent youth offenders had decreased by 95 compared to the previous quarter.

The community continued to grapple with migrant exploitation, with Indian business leaders and immigration advisors calling for stable immigration policies to stem the tide.

Earlier in the year, flaws in the accredited employer work visa scheme had spread to the health sector, with many nurses from India struggling to find employment in New Zealand.

Th development prompted the Indian High Commission in Wellington to issue an advisory to nurses in September, warming them against moving to New Zealand without a genuine job offer.

India's External Affairs Ministry had issued a similar advisory in January on the rise of unregistered recruitment agents who charge exorbitant fees.

In October, the government declared that migrants who have been defrauded with a fake job offer will no longer be eligible for a migrant exploitation protection visa. What's more, the maximum time migrants were eligible for such a visa was also halved to six months.

In other milestones, Navjot Kaur became the first Sikh women to represent the country at Miss World pageant in February.

In May, Malkiat Singh became the first New Zealand Sikh to climb Mount Everest in May.

After a break-out season, Rachin Ravindra became the youngest cricketer to receive the supreme award for the men's game in New Zealand after receiving the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal in March.

In July, meanwhile, New Zealand's elite domestic basketball leagues announced the inclusion of teams from India in 2025.

Annual Indian sporting extravaganzas - the sixth New Zealand Sikh Games and the second New Zealand Kabaddi World Cup - continued to impress, bringing communities together and attracting thousands.

Thousands also celebrated key festivals throughout the year such as Diwali, Holi, Eid and other festivals.

As the community has grown in number, Indian cuisine and culture have slowly become mainstream in New Zealand.

The momentum in New Zealand-India diplomatic relations continued in 2024, with several notable meetings taking place at the highest political levels.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Trade Minister Todd McClay met their Indian counterparts on multiple occasions in the year.

In October, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also met his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Laos.

Indian President Droupadi Murmu's three-day visit to New Zealand in August was one of the diplomatic highlights of the year. Murmu hailed the contributions of Kiwi Indians in all aspects of life in New Zealand.

While some progress has been made in trade between the two countries this year, the ultimate prize remains a free trade deal.

In November, divisions emerged in the Indian community after a US-based separatist group organised a non-binding "referendum" in Auckland that called for an independent homeland for Sikhs within India.

On the diplomatic front, Patrick Rata was appointed New Zealand's new high commissioner to India in March.

In September, the Indian government opened a consulate in Auckland, which houses more than 60 percent of New Zealand's Indian population.

Looking ahead to 2025, the Indian community is looking forward to Luxon's promised visit to India sometime next year.

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