Asian New Zealanders

The modern period of Asian immigration began in the 1970s when New Zealand relaxed its restrictive policies to attract migrants from Asia.

Peters quickly responded that Statistics New Zealand had underestimated the growth-rate of the Asian community in the past.

[12] In April 2008, deputy New Zealand First party leader Peter Brown drew widespread attention after voicing similar views and expressing concern at the increase in New Zealand's ethnic Asian population: "We are going to flood this country with Asian people with no idea what we are going to do with them when they come here.

If we continue this open door policy there is real danger we will be inundated with people who have no intention of integrating into our society.

In a study of 1,452 participants who identified as from Asian descent published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, 40.3% reported experiences with racism.

A significant number of participants, nearly 50%, of high school and tertiary students "reported experiencing racism during the pandemic.

"[15] In Rolleston, Canterbury, an email was sent to a Chinese-origin student's parent, which reportedly said, "our Kiwi kids don't want to be in the same class with your disgusting virus spreaders.

According to The New Zealand Herald, "Labour MP Raymond Huo said the coronavirus had become the number one issue among the local Chinese community both for efforts to ensure safety of family members and for the incidents of racial abuse it was bringing.

During the rally, Labour MP Naisi Chen said "Racism has been part of the country for a very long time," calling on the Asian community to step forward and serve in government.