NZ First leader Winston Peters has been feeling left out - until now. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
NZ First leader Winston Peters has been feeling left out - until now. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
“I don’t know him,” National leader Christopher Luxon said, when asked if he thought NZ First leader Winston Peters was good or bad for the country during the Newshub Leaders’ Debate on Wednesday night.
He may soon have to get to know him a lot better: NZ First’srise in the polls has meant in the NZ Herald’s Poll of Polls, the chances of National being able to form a government with Act alone have dropped to 45 per cent.
The NZ Herald has compiled a handy guide of 10 things Luxon should know about Peters.
He probably hasn’t got one against Luxon yet. However, it pays to know who he does have grudges against before coalition negotiations to make sure nobody on the panel has ever peeved him off about anything – ever.
Todd McClay, Gerry Brownlee and Mark Mitchell are pretty safe bets. He was old mates with McClay’s father, Roger McClay, the former Taupo MP.
Brownlee was out on the town with Peters during the coalition talks of 1996 when Peters got caught up in an altercation at the Brava bar in Courtenay Place.
Do not include Paula Bennett, Steven Joyce, Sir John Key, David Carter or Sir Bill English – or Act leader David Seymour. That way lies dragons.
2. Keeps his lawyers busy
It might pay for Luxon to know that Winston Peters, a former lawyer, can be very litigious. He first made a name for himself acting on behalf of his iwi, Ngati Wai, successfully battling a plan in the 1970s to turn its coastal land into public reserves.
He was first elected to Parliament in 1979 as MP for Hunua as a result of a legal challenge about the official result which had originally given the seat to Malcolm Douglas. He took an unsuccessful legal challenge against his expulsion from the National Party caucus, and tabled documents in Parliament about big business tax transactions which led to the Winebox Commission of Inquiry, the findings of which he successfully challenged in the Court of Appeal.
He took an unsuccessful legal challenge against Bob Clarkson who beat him in Tauranga in 2005, and he took an unsuccessful case against Public Services Commissioner Peter Hughes, former Ministry of Social Development boss Brendan Boyle, and former National ministers Paula Bennett and Anne Tolley for allegedly breaching his privacy about an overpayment of superannuation.
3. Interested in soft furnishings
He has a high level of interest in the interior design choices of National Party leaders. He famously asked Sir John Key if his carpets matched the drapes. He wasn’t talking about Premier House’s soft furnishings – he’d alleged Key dyed his hair. At least that won’t be an allegation Luxon will face.
4. On immigration
Immigration was traditionally one of his campaign staples: he has particularly taken aim at immigration from Asia countries and been accused of xenophobia for railing at things such as a so-called “Asian Invasion” in 1996, he has moaned about the number of Chinese language signs on Dominion Rd and the demographics of people walking up Queen St.
He repeatedly insists he is not racist.
This time round he has been far more muted on immigration levels and pretty much silent on Asian immigration.
5. A contemplative Foreign Minister
He’s been foreign minister twice – in 2005-2008 under Helen Clark and 2017 – 2020 under Jacinda Ardern. He got on famously with former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, but had to take a back seat when Labour was negotiating the NZ-China free trade agreement, due to his position on it. In his more recent term, he added “moments of deep contemplation” to his foreign policy briefcase, after he was seen possibly having a nap at a summit.
Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with Winston Peters. Photo / NZPA
6. Not woke
The term might be new, but Peters has a long history of bucking against what he now calls “woke virtue signalling.” Back in the 2000s, he said journalists questioning his use of the phrase “two Wongs don’t make a white” were the self-appointed “Nazi politically correct police.”
7. Taste in fish
He likes his flounder slightly undercooked.
8: His DNA
His claim Māori are not indigenous is not new – although it has changed a bit. A fortnight ago, he said Māori came from Hawai-iki and originally from China, 5000 years ago. In 2002, he told a Chinese audience Maori were descended from a “high mountain national tribe” called Gao Shan Zhu. “That means I have Chinese blood in me,” he said.
9. Loves dogs and horses
He loves the races, dogs, horses and whisky. His old beloved dog Beau died last November and he recently took on Kobe. He once adopted two Kaimanawa horses, called Rodney and Richard after Rodney Hide and Richard Prebble. Don’t be fooled, Luxon: the names don’t reflect any affection for the Act Party.
10. This is not his first rodeo.
Winston Peters in a New Zealand First election 2023 advertisement
