Peters says Green Party has 'sold out'

Winston Peters

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says Green Party attacks on him are the actions of a low-polling party which has sold out its principles.

Greens co-leader Rod Donald attacked Mr Peters at the party's weekend conference, describing him as a "snake-oil merchant" and the "ugly face of New Zealand politics".

He said Mr Peters' proposed "flying squad" which would search for potentially risky immigrants "echoes Hitler's Germany".

The attacks came as part of a series of speeches condemning the prospect of a National-NZ First coalition.

However, Mr Peters yesterday described Mr Donald as "a man who's obsessed with being in Cabinet and will sell any principle down the drain".

"They [the Greens] are going off to political oblivion. They don't actually stand for anything and won't stand up for anything," he said on the Paul Holmes television show last night.

He said Green Party members had rung his office apologising for Mr Donald's attacks on him.

"They think it's a disgrace, they believe that they've forgotten their great, serious environmental cause which I think is important in this country," Mr Peters said.

Mr Peters' poll ratings and those of New Zealand First have increased in the past few months, partly after a series of revelations made under Parliamentary privilege about Iraqis in New Zealand who were allegedly linked to Saddam Hussein's regime.

He said the proposed "flying squads" would be made up of New Zealanders from all ethnic backgrounds.

" After all, my informants on many of these issues come from these backgrounds," he said.

Mr Donald and fellow co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons made several criticisms of both Mr Peters and National Party leader Don Brash at the Greens' conference.

The scenario Mr Donald painted in his speech was of a "bleak" future under a National/NZ First government.

"It's a choice between a Labour/Green government, which believes in compassion, diversity and tolerance and has a strong social and environmental conscience, and a National/NZ First government which stands for divisiveness, intolerance, bigotry and ignoring the poor to give tax cuts to the rich," Mr Donald said.

The Greens want to work with Labour, as the party made clear at its weekend conference. It has said it will not go into coalition with National under any circumstances.

A National Business Review poll released on Friday had National edging in front of Labour, and NZ First support at 11.6 per cent. It had the Greens on 5.4 per cent.