Peters resumes attack on free trade deals

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has attacked the Government for pursuing trade deals with "large Asian nations".

His attack in a speech to Ashburton Grey Power yesterday follows his claim last month that the proposed free trade agreement with China would help "Asianise" New Zealand.

Yesterday, he said such agreements were dangerous and short-sighted, and would destroy New Zealand's manufacturing base.

Last month Mr Peters said New Zealand workers would be forced to further compete with cheap Asian labour, and the trickle of businesses relocating to Asia would become a torrent. "We already lose $2 billion a year to China through unbalanced trade."

He said the agreement would mean that ultimately NZ's economic sovereignty would be "subsumed by the Chinese juggernaut".