Peters shrugs off campaign criticism

Winston Peters says senior New Zealand First members' public criticisms of the party's election campaign are honest assessments and do not "remotely concern" him.

The NZ First leader returned to New Zealand on Saturday to front page news in the Weekend Herald that the party's policy and strategy director Damien Edwards had told a Victoria University conference that mistakes were made during the campaign and that it lacked coherence.

Mr Edwards said Mr Peters' decision to attack his Tauranga opponent Bob Clarkson in the last week of the campaign was a tactical error.

The party's deputy leader, Peter Brown, and another senior MP, Brian Donnelly, were also critical of the campaign and some tactics of Mr Peters.

Yesterday, Mr Peters told the Herald that NZ First always took part in the university's post-election conference "in the interests of academia and putting things on the record".

He said Mr Edwards had been encouraged to be frank and honest.

"People expect an honest assessment of the type this party always conducts - I have no difficulty with that whatsoever." Mr Peters said the seven other parties at the conference had been less frank, but that had not been reported by the media even though he believed it showed "political insight".

When asked if he was concerned about Mr Edwards' public comments he said: "Not remotely concerned."

When asked about Mr Donnelly's suggestion that it was time for him to sort out a truce with the media, he said: "Brian hasn't been conducting these phone calls with people like the New Zealand Herald journalists like I have been. Perhaps he would think differently if he had to put up with what I put up with."

Mr Brown told the Herald last night that the critical comments party members, including himself, made on Friday about the campaign were said with the benefit of hindsight and were meant in a historical sense.

He said the party had conducted post mortems of the campaign at all levels and had now moved on.

Opposition MPs are expected to continue their attack on Mr Peters over his "inside/outside Government" position this week. Mr Peters is awaiting the High Court's decision on his electoral petition against Mr Clarkson's campaign spending.