Wellington - Winston Peters, leader of the nationalist New Zealand First party and former foreign minister, vowed Thursday to fight to cut immigration if he is in the government after next month's general election.

"Immigration numbers will be cut to ensure Kiwis do not have to compete with immigrants for jobs as our economy goes into decline," he said at a campaign meeting in Nelson, a coastal city on the north end of the South Island.

"When times are tough internationally, immigrants are attracted to New Zealand like moths to a neon light," Peters said.

While acknowledging that New Zealand needed immigrants when the economy was growing and unemployment was low, he said, "We must never return to open-door immigration undermining the efforts of New Zealanders trying to find a job in tough times."

Peters used an anti-immigrant campaign with the slogan "Whose country is it anyway?" to effect at a time of high immigration in the mid-1990s, winning 17 seats in parliament in the 1996 election and becoming deputy prime minister and treasurer in a coalition government.

He revealed the party's slogan for this year's election as "Protect and save your New Zealand."

New Zealand First had seven members in the last parliament, and opinion polls indicated it was headed for political oblivion at the election on November 8.

Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark, who is seeking a fourth three-year term, shrugged off Peters' comments, telling reporters that anti-immigration statements had long been his "bread and butter."

"But from the Labour Party's point of view, it's so important that we have an inclusive, welcoming and accepting society," she said. "We need people to come here with skills that we don't have ourselves."

Official figures showed that just over 51,000 immigrants were granted New Zealand residence in the past fiscal year, which ended March 31. That number was down from nearly 59,000 in the 2002 fiscal year.

More than 10,500 were from Britain, followed by 6,700 from China, 4,586 from the Philippines and 4,344 from South Africa.

Peters was foreign minister under Clark but stood down in August pending a Serious Fraud Office investigation into secret cash donations to his party. He was cleared, but Clark did not reinstate him.

Freed of the constraints of his foreign affairs portfolio, Peters also condemned a free trade agreement with China, which he said the Clark government had "foolishly" signed earlier this year.

"Part of that agreement allows Chinese companies to set up here and to bring in their own labour," he said. "We will ensure that the free trade agreement is not used as a back-door device to bring in cheap labour."  (dpa)