WHAT WAS CLAIMED
New Zealand has officially recognised Palestine as a state.
OUR VERDICT
False. The foreign minister stated NZ will not yet recognise Palestinian statehood.
AAP FACTCHECK - New Zealand's government has not announced it has recognised a Palestinian state, despite claims online.
The country's foreign minister has instead said it would be "imprudent" to do so and cabinet papers show that NZ is waiting for Palestine to first make progress on several "elements of statehood".
Several UN member states - including Australia, the UK and Canada - announced they had recognised the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 21, 2025.
Social media posts claim that NZ also extended recognition to Palestine on September 28, 2025.
"New Zealand officially recognizes Palestine as an independent state," a Facebook post said.
The same claim also appeared in an X post.
However, this is false. The NZ government has not recognised the state of Palestine.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said NZ "will not be recognising the State of Palestine at this time," in a government press release that coincided with his speech at the UN on September 27, 2025.
"With a war raging, Hamas remaining the de facto government of Gaza, and no clarity on next steps, too many questions remain about the future State of Palestine for it to be prudent for New Zealand to announce recognition at this time," he said.
However, Mr Peters did say it was a matter of when, not if, NZ would recognise statehood as it was committed to a two-state solution.
"Like every other New Zealand Government over the past 80 years, we hold the position that we will recognise a Palestinian state when the time is right," he said.
The foreign minister shared the press release in an X post on September 27, 2025, and he hasn't made any posts or public comments since then indicating that this stance has changed.
NZ cabinet papers said Palestine would need to make progress on "elements of statehood" before it was recognised.
This included effective governance and domestic security institutions, commitments to non-violence, strong regional support and security guarantees from Israel.
Following the September general assembly, 157 of 193 UN member states now recognise Palestine, according to ABC and Al Jazeera.
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