Damien O'Connor: Labour's Trade Spokesperson on Labour's hesitance to support the India Free Trade Agreement

Questions around Indian students and family of visa holders are still roadblocks to Labour supporting a trade deal with India.   New Zealand First's left its coalition partners in the lurch, rendering them dependent on Labour to ratify the agreement.  But leader Chris Hipkins says there's a mismatch between how the deal's been presented and what the text actually contains.  Damien O’Connor, the party’s Trade Spokesperson, told Mike Hosking trade agreements don’t typically include guaranteed work permits, but this one does.  He says that Winston Peters stirred up concerns the deal will result in New Zealand being flooded with migrants, and while that’s not the reality, they had to ask questions about the provisions and safeguards for that.   O’Connor says they don’t want thousands of students and workers coming into New Zealand and being exploited.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.