Fix-it-all Peters rouses fans with swipes at rivals all round

By FRANCESCA MOLD

Winston Peters' election launch had a distinct Bob the Builder flavour.

The theme of the popular children's television show was dotted throughout his speech in a blatant attempt to ramp up the crowd.

"Can we fix it?" he shouted. The audience was supposed to respond by shouting back the "yes, we can", as the song goes.

But it seemed the Bob the Builder phenomenon has passed by Mr Peters' predominantly grey-haired supporters. They didn't quite get it.

But they loved it all the same.

The song Can We Fix It? went to number one in the British pop charts last year. Mr Peters swears he was not aware of the television character until the media teased him about the slogan featuring in several of his speeches over the past few weeks.

But the theme neatly fitted his message at yesterday's campaign launch in Tauranga.

He wants to "fix" crime, immigration, the trouble caused by the Treaty of Waitangi, all the issues guaranteed to arouse his mostly older, retired supporters.

They were crammed among black and white balloons and streamers at Tauranga's Baycourt theatre, where former Labour MP now NZ First member Ralph Maxwell prepared them for Mr Peters' grand entrance.

The NZ First leader entered to the sound of native Indian pan pipes and a church choir singing the theme song to the 1986 movie The Mission.

This was Tauranga's man with a mission. He launched into his address with a whack at each of his rival parties.

The Greens were loonies who would bring down the Government.

National was full of carping, jealous politicians heading for their worst defeat ever.

Labour was dishonest and had conned the public into a snap election so it could grab total control of Parliament.

Act could not deliver its promise to deal to crime because leader Richard Prebble could not even say "prioritise" properly.

Mr Peters was in his element. He had a captive audience of ardent supporters sympathetic to his cause.

As always, he was quick to turn on his favourite target - the media.

Gesturing constantly at the reporters in a corner, he urged the audience to tell the "big-city media" to tell the truth and stop selling spin.

The media called him racist when he was merely against political correctness, he said.

He is one of the veterans among the party leaders in this campaign but he has lost none of the style that can whip an elderly crowd into enthusiasm.

Full coverage:
nzherald.co.nz/election

Election links