From next year, migrants applying for New Zealand citizenship will be required to pass a multiple-choice test.

The new test was announced by Internal Affairs Minister and ACT MP Brooke van Velden, who says it will strengthen what it means to be a New Zealand citizen.

Proposed question topics include the Bill of Rights Act, voting rights, the structure of government, human rights, certain criminal offences, democratic principles, and the “responsibilities and privileges” of citizenship.

The minister said the changes were driven by a view within Government that “we have lost a sense of what it means to be a New Zealander.”

But who decides what that means — and are these the right questions to be asking?

Here to discuss that with Emile tonight is Professor Emeritus of History at Massey University and author of Becoming Aotearoa: A New History of New Zealand, Michael Belgrave.

A 2016 and a 2023 New Zealand passport. The older passport features the English words first - a design the government says it will change back to with new passports from 2027.

Photo: Natalie Akoorie