NZ Prime Minister calls Sāmoa ‘family’ but defends visa rules for Pacific travellers

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has defended visa requirements for Pacific travellers, even as he described Sāmoa and New Zealand as “family” during his first official visit to Apia.

Luxon made the comments on Monday shortly after he was bestowed the chiefly matai title Tuisinavemaulumotoʻotua by the villages of Apia, a traditional honour that reflects leadership, service, and belonging within the wider Pacific family.

But the moment also raised a political question. Sāmoan media asked whether the relationship “family” should mean visa-free travel between Pacific countries and Aotearoa.

Pacific leaders, community groups, and advocacy organisations have repeatedly called for visa-free travel, arguing that deep historical ties, labour links, and family connections across the region should allow easier movement.

Asked directly about the issue, Luxon pointed to changes his government says have already made travel easier.

“As a new government in New Zealand over the last two years, we've done several things to try and make it easier to facilitate visas and travel to New Zealand,” Luxon says.

Watch Christopher Luxon perform a siva following the matai title bestowment ceremony in Apia below.

“The challenge that we have is you know as any leader does is to make sure that you've got legal migration and that you've actually got good risk management around your immigration system because otherwise what happens is you get an anti-immigrant feeling that builds up inside a country.”

Last year, the New Zealand Government introduced a number of changes affecting Pacific travellers.

Visitor visas for Pacific Islands Forum nationals were extended from the standard one-year visa to a 24-month multi-entry visa, allowing travellers to visit New Zealand multiple times within that period while still observing normal visitor stay limits.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Sāmoa’s Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt following a joint press conference in Apia during Luxon’s official visit. Photo/PMN News/Ala Vailala

New Zealand also started recognising valid Australian visitor visas for entry, making travel easier for Pacific visitors already transiting through Australia.

Visa application fees for Pacific travellers were also temporarily reduced for a 12-month period.

Luxon says a petition calling for visa-free travel for Pacific countries will go through New Zealand’s parliamentary select committee process before any decision is made.

The issue comes as New Zealand seeks to strengthen ties across the Pacific, where closer cooperation and the movement of people are increasingly tied to broader political and economic partnerships.

Sāmoa’s Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt said regional cooperation remains vital as global pressures grow.

“New Zealand and Australia we look up to as big brothers and sisters,” Laʻauli told journalists.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is escorted by the daughter of a high chief of Apia at the start of the matai title bestowment ceremony in Apia. Photo/PMN News/Ala Vailala

“You see the changing nowadays in the world. Big countries bully, start to change things dynamically, tariff, pushing things, petroleum and all that taking over.

“Sāmoa’s focus is to make sure we look after ourselves… So that's why it's very, very important for Sāmoa, New Zealand and Australia and all Pacific regions to come back together again.”

Luxon is visiting Sāmoa with a large delegation of ministers, officials, business and community leaders.

He says the trip is focused on strengthening cooperation between the two countries.

He leaves for Tonga on Tuesday, where discussions are expected to cover fuel security, economic pressures, and regional stability.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon with Samoan pastors following his matai title bestowment ceremony in Apia. Photo/PMN News/Ala Vailala

Luxon also warned that drug trafficking is becoming a growing threat in the Pacific, with criminal networks increasingly using the region as a transit route.

“We're up against crime families in South America that are doing extraordinary things now to send drugs into our region and actually the border and the security is the Pacific,” he said.

“It's not just the New Zealand border alone as well. So it's very important that we work together.”