Newly appointed Minister for Rail Winston Peters. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Newly appointed Minister for Rail Winston Peters. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Editorial
If you want to listen to a master of spin and counter spin, then tune in to Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters any time he is being interviewed – he might call it grilled – by journalists.
He is a king of the deflect – meaning he has the ability,and smarts, to often turn the tables on his interviewers.
Baiting Winston was a game played by a many political journalists and if they received a Peters rebuke, that was par for the course. Peters does not suffer fools and to go into an interview unprepared, that’s a silly mistake.
While most superannuitants – Peters will blow out 80 candles in April 2025 – are into their retirement and putting their feet up, Peters is a whirlwind of energy flying to all parts around the globe as Foreign Affairs Minister.
There’s an old saying in political circles, Foreign Ministers were appointed as they pose the biggest threat to a Prime Minister if a coup were to take place.
Between representing New Zealand, Peters has also taken over the reins as Prime Minister when Christopher Luxon is overseas.
We know Peters is an intelligent MP, because he has not only survived 46-plus years in the cauldron of politics but appears to be thriving more now than in his previous iterations as a minister.
There’s no sign Peters is ready to hand over the reins of the NZ First Party or the Deputy Prime Minister’s job.
She is a fierce interviewer and gives as good as she gets.
She would make a statement and Peters would bat it back time and time again.
Peters said the Government inherited an “unholy mess” from the previous administration and the costs overrun had blown out to $3.2 billion. He said he was also not trying to upstage Finance Minister Nicola Willis, who had the day before announced Peters as the new Minister of Rail.
It is not like Peters needs another ministerial title.
When pushed about why Peters would not discuss the cost of the new government proposals, it turned into classic Peters.
“Do you know anything about commercial practice? That’s why it’s confidential. Which law school did you go to?”
And ... “You know, I’ve never seen so much rudeness. Somebody is trying to explain to you about a critical issue that costs so much to the taxpayer and you’re interrupting. Here’s the point: it’ll cost way, way less than [iRex], and that, I’m certain.”
