Peters scotches diplomat rumour

Winston Peters

Foreign Minister Winston Peters yesterday pledged to lead New Zealand First into the next election and rejected speculation he might take a diplomatic post.

"Why would I want that? Why on earth would I want that? I am running the posts."

It was the assurance that about 200 of his party faithful at the convention on the North Shore were waiting to hear.

He referred to the rumour that has run for a year that he might not stand next election as "a most unusual and mysterious myth".

"We really hate to burst their bubble but I am not going anywhere else anytime soon.

"Like the rest of my colleagues, we will be standing in 2008 if the party is happy for us to because the party runs this organisation and that's the way these decisions will be determined - not by rumour that somehow I want a diplomatic post."

The undercurrent of the conference was the unsuccessful challenge of sitting president Dail Jones by MP Barbara Stewart, and whether it would accentuate divisions between party activists and the parliamentary wing. The Herald understands that caucus colleagues had asked Barbara Stewart to challenge Mr Jones after he promoted a cleanout of the caucus at the next election - and to a lesser extent because he had suggested Mr Peters would retire before 2011 - but none publicly backed her.

Mr Peters chose to paint the contest as a sign of democracy that the party was not afraid of, rather than a rift, and said MPs would not participate in the vote.

But two MPs, deputy leader Peter Brown and founding president Doug Woolerton, alluded in speeches to the future of the MPs.

Mr Brown said the future of the party lay with the present MPs and that the public did not know enough about the MPs, except for Mr Peters.

He also said that the party had to work together as a team: "Failure to do so could be a disaster."

Mr Woolerton appealed to the membership to concentrate on expanding the party rather than on a divisive contest over who should replace present MPs.

"We are not here to kick people out of Parliament. We are here to get more people into Parliament."

In a fiery speech that earned as much applause as Mr Peters' own, he said that Mr Peters was not going anywhere for the 2008 election or the 2011 election "and neither am I and neither are my caucus colleagues".

He said the party had to accept it was the third party, but that it could "always be in Government" and that in face of the decimation of the Alliance and Act, that the party should celebrate its survival.

"To us, third is first. It should not matter a damn to us whether National is in power or whether Labour is in as long as we are in power to get your policies through."

That marked a major shift in the position strongly advanced before the last election of staying outside Government. He resigned as president when Mr Peters accepted a ministerial post as part of the confidence and supply arrangement it has with Labour.

Mr Peters also emphasised New Zealand First as a centrist party. The next election, he said, would not be an "either or" choice.

"The next election will be a choice between New Zealand First's influence on Labour or National."

He praised Labour's consultation with other parties and said it was prepared to change its mind.

"Labour has come to understand MMP. National refuses to."