Trade Minister Todd McClay questioned by Indian media over Shane Jones' 'butter chicken tsunami' barb

The Trade Minister Todd McClay says Indian media questioned him about Shane Jones' "butter chicken tsunami" comment when he was in the country signing the Free Trade Agreement.

He said he told them the New Zealand First MP was entitled to say what he wanted - but it was not a widely held view.

In a video circulating online, Jones said his party would "never accept" the deal with India, saying it would lead to "unfettered immigration".

"I am just never going to agree with a butter chicken tsunami coming to New Zealand," Jones said.

McClay was in India this week and signed the agreement on Monday night.

Local media asked him about Jones' comments, he said.

"I told them ... it's not a view that's held by New Zealanders widely, that actually ... people are, in freedom of speech, allowed to say what they want, and it's not something that Indian New Zealanders should be worried about.

"Certainly, I've said very clearly to Indian New Zealanders, they're valued in New Zealand, they make a big contribution, and this is a small minority view."

Jones was "better than that", McClay said.

Just over an hour later, during Parliament's general debate, National's deputy leader Nicola Willis said New Zealand First had used "race-based scaremongering" in its opposition to the FTA.

"Shame on you, Shane Jones, I enjoy working with you around the Cabinet table but that kind of race-based rhetoric has no place in New Zealand politics."

It was the closest a senior National MP had come to calling Jones' comments racist.

Last week, Willis said they were derogatory and offensive, and some New Zealanders would feel they were racist, but she did not use that word herself.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon last week said Jones' comments were "unacceptable", but he did not call them racist - nor did other senior MPs.

ACT leader David Seymour said they were "really lame dad jokes".

Mount Roskill MP Carlos Cheung said the phrase was racist, and he felt that more than other MPs because he is a migrant.

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