Peters pays rival big compliment

Winston Peters

Claire Harvey gets an insight into contrasting political styles in the race for Tauranga.

A public savaging from Winston Peters is quite a big political compliment.

Bob Clarkson should take it as a sign that he is doing well in the race for Tauranga that he was the only opponent mentioned by the New Zealand First leader at a Meet the Candidates forum in the electorate last night.

Mr Peters gave Mr Clarkson a serve for failing to show up.

"I think you deserve better than for one candidate to skip the occasion," Mr Peters told the meeting, attended by about 150 residents.

"The rest of us have made sure that we got here. The real question is what on Earth is he afraid of here in Tauranga?"

Mr Clarkson's official line was that he was busy at a prior engagement, but he admitted he had no desire to get into a debate with Mr Peters, the unquestioned master of political rhetoric.

Last night, Mr Peters was palpably disappointed at not getting to take on the political beginner in public.

"The reality is politics is a business where you've gotta front up, you've gotta answer the questions, you've gotta go to public meetings and you've got to talk to people."

The two men's styles are very different - for example, it is a pretty safe bet that Winston Peters, who wears a hand-tailored suit even on weekends, has never said "Gee whiskybangs".

Through 21 years as the local member, Mr Peters' gregariousness and dapper swish have been his main assets.

In the last election he comfortably dispatched the National candidate, Hamilton teacher Tim Macindoe, who is still remembered on Tauranga's streets as "that boy from out of town".

But in 2005, Mr Peters must see off the very popular, very rich and very local Mr Clarkson, a successful businessman who persuaded the Bay of Plenty Steamers rugby team to make Tauranga their home base.

The two men make the same promise on the hot local issue - no toll on the proposed new bridge linking Tauranga with nearby Mt Maunganui - so this campaign comes down to personality.

Mr Peters rubbishes the polls which suggest he is in trouble in Tauranga, and slams the Herald for being "unprofessional" enough this week to publish internal National Party polling which suggested he might lose the seat.

"I have worked hard here. Year in year out I've been working hard, and I have confidence in the people of Tauranga," Mr Peters said, adding that he hoped the people of Tauranga understood that his duties as party leader meant he could not attend every cake stall in the electorate.

He said Mr Clarkson's claim that there would be no road toll under a National government was undermined by the party's support for public-private partnerships on big infrastructure projects.

"Clarkson is promising no tolls but his party is promising to encourage public private-partnerships," said Mr Peters. "That means tolls."