KEY POINTS:
Winston Peters' blatant appeal to our inner racism has always set him apart from other politicians. Despite this, many have had a soft spot for him. On a personal level, he's extremely good company. He's so likeable even his enemies refer to him by his first name. For years he's said the most outrageous things but gets away with them because he flashes a dazzling smile.
Once, he was the popular choice to lead the National Party and become our first Maori Prime Minister. But his party colleagues dumped him, forcing him to set up NZ First.
Peters' early popularity was largely due to his appeal to people's racism and xenophobia. His career soared after he become our Number 1 Maori-basher. Middle New Zealand loved him for it and, in 1996, he won all the Maori seats, sweeping him into Government as deputy prime minister to his nemesis, Jim Bolger.
But Peters' craftiness is coming to an end. His crude opportunism is so stark even his firm believers must find it hard to tolerate. However, his claim last election that he would not be persuaded by the baubles of office can partially be forgiven. After all, both main parties offered him a deal that would make even the most virtuous of us succumb.
Imagine being offered a job by both parties that allowed you to go hobnobbing around the world meeting the international political elite. His expense account must run into the millions and he even gets a senior cabinet minister's salary and baubles, oops, I mean perks.
But his true cleverness was evident when he negotiated not even having to sit through any Cabinet meeting or any Government committee, claiming the money and power but none of the responsibilities or tiresome meetings. The only person he has to report to is the Prime Minister.
In the last couple of elections, the good money was on Peters and party being wiped out. But each time he slipped back in by the skin of his teeth - his nickname isn't Houdini for nothing. So even though he has a state pension on top of his generous salary, has no seat and his party rates in the margin of error, few political pundits write him off, despite his refusal to pay back the taxpayer the $158,000 public money he spent on his party's last election campaign. Cynically, Peters is instead redistributing it to voluntary organisations in some sort of a Robin Hood parody.
It also smelled fishy when Labour supporter Owen Glenn would neither confirm nor deny he had made a substantial donation to NZ First.
Even if we ignore NZ First's financial shenanigans, the latest political cynicism from Peters should have all of us choking. All this term, he has been sucking up to George Bush for a free-trade deal with the US. Bush has no chance of giving Peters what he wants. Therefore, our foreign ministry, which Peters nominally leads, has been negotiating with the Chinese, and our free-trade agreement will be signed off next week.
Peters, as our top foreign representative, can't be seen to be playing politics in that role. But he knows a good election scab when he sees one. While Peters has to be silent, he has had his loyal deputy, Peter Brown, launch an anti-Asian diatribe.
There is no other purpose to an Asian fear-mongering campaign than to build support for the election. The hypocrisy is so blatant that neither of them recognises the irony of Brown, an immigrant, parroting this old, anti-immigration line. It was laughable to see Brown, a list MP, claiming he hasn't bludged off New Zealand taxpayers like other immigrants allegedly have. I would be amused to hear Brown justify his taxpayer-funded salary of $150,000 as a list MP with no constituency or job description. His base salary is 10 times the dole.
It seems desperate times call for desperate measures. But it's time to see this latest outburst for what it is: a cynical tactic that manipulates our prejudice and bigotry to ensure NZ First keeps its place at the public trough. Hopefully no one falls for it.
* LAST WEEK'S COLUMN
Matt McCarten's column last week was remarkably similar to a column by John Minto which ran in the Christchurch Press the following day. The columns, about a dispute at Auckland airport over staff breaks, were written after a briefing by Unite director Mike Treen who employs Minto and who reports to McCarten. An urgent family matter meant McCarten was out of town last week so discussed his column by phone with a Unite worker, who eventually penned the column. The worker used Mintos column as a base for the work, believing it to be a background briefing on the airport issue. The Herald on Sunday has accepted McCarten's apologies for what he says was an honest mistake and has reiterated the requirement for all columns to be wholly his own work.
