Former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters visited the protesters outside Parliament on 22 February, 2022. Video / Michael Neilson
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has revealed why he made his maskless visit to the occupation of Parliament grounds yesterday, saying he met with the protesters yesterday to encourage them to demand that they be heard.
"It's astonishing that on the 16th day no one has opened the dialogue from Parliament from any political party, hasn't been to see them and that's utterly unprecedented," he said.
"The reality is if the Prime Minister and her Cabinet were prepared to talk to them, I'm sure this could be (de-escalated) real fast, but if it doesn't I fear there are going to be further problems or violence," he told AM.
He said the massive majority of the protesters were law-abiding and peaceful and included some who had lost their jobs after 30 years.
"You always get the odd nut case, but the reality is from what I saw, the people being gas-lit by the media and dare I say politicians are simply not that crowd.
Winston Peters among protesters during day 15 of the Covid-19 convoy protest and occupation at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
"The reality is if they had been spoken to, if they had been listened to, if there had been some dialogue then this would not be where it is today and it's preposterous. You will not find any part in our country's history where the politicians en masse have signed a pact not to talk to protesters."
The veteran politician, who lost his seat when his New Zealand First party were bounced from Parliament at the last election , visited the site yesterday just after Jacinda Ardern spoke to the nation at an event in Auckland.
He was surrounded by protesters wishing him well, but did meet with some resistance from a vocal element who labelled him a "traitor".
He declined to speak on the main stage, a decision which saw a "we want Winston" chant rise from the crowd.
Despite police claims that the occupation was winding down, Peters disagreed people were leaving the protest and said the crowd was actually building.
"These people might be protesters, but like you, and like the rest of New Zealand they are the masters of the politicians not the servants."
When asked why he didn't wear a mask, Peters, who is triple-vaccinated, claimed that unless they were "highly surgical of a certain scientific and medical content" they were a waste of time.
Peters was warmly welcomed by most, but also accused by some of being a "traitor". Photo / Mark Mitchell
Peters said the real number of daily Covid cases were "three or four times higher" than the 2300 or so daily cases released by the Ministry of Health. "It's possible at the moment we have got 45,000 Covid cases in this country and over 100 in hospital - not much more than 100 and one in ICU."
After his visit, Peters shared what he said was a note handed to him by a young girl at the protest.
The handwritten note thanked him for "fighting for freedom".
I was handed this by a young girl today who asked me to open it when I got home. This is who they are. pic.twitter.com/n5byh4ML9d
When asked about the protesters manhandling journalists, he said he was there to speak to the people and the media weren't the centre of the issue.
Former deputy prime minister Peters has previously expressed support for the protesters, making comments on social media that were widely shared by the occupiers and their supporters.
Peters told the Herald at the time that he believed the Government is showing a double standard compared with other protests like the Ihumātao occupation, which ended with a brokered solution and a grant to buy the contested land.
"We have people occupying private land at Ihumātao and the Government against our wishes after the election embraced them," Peters said.
"Then you've got a Speaker making statements even banning media from talking to them [the protesters], when he has gone out publicly extolling the virtues of protests he has been in even when they were far, far more violent."
If you occupy private land like Ihumatao you can stay as long as you want & the govt embraces you. If you occupy public land the govt will trespass you the same day & label you a minority.
I guess it depends which ‘minority’ they decide they want in their team of 5 million.
Peters' decision to meet with protesters yesterday wasn't backed by Opposition leader Christopher Luxon.
"I wouldn't support that at all. As I said to you before we are rock solid in opposition to the protests," Luxon told AM.
"The behaviour down there has been shameful and utterly, utterly unacceptable."
Police commissioner Andrew Coster refused to comment on whether Peters' visit was helping or not, telling Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking it wasn't his place to comment on what politicians were doing.
"We remain of the view that de-escalation is the only strategy that will see us get out of this in good shape and that needs to be a combination of police taking action where appropriate and de-escalating the protests."
