KEY POINTS:
Winston Peters would not co-operate with the Herald for this Q&A. Nor would he supply written answers to provided questions. The following quotes have been taken from three recent speeches, including NZ First's campaign launch.
What the election is about:
Our campaign slogan is clear - we are asking for your vote so we can protect and save your New Zealand.
And when we talk about protecting your New Zealand we are referring to your way of life, your safety and security, your savings, and we must work together to save your homes, your jobs and your communities.
The world has become a very scary place - and not because of any battle in a far off land.
The fight is raging in the money markets, the banking systems, the housing markets, the investment companies, and the vultures are gathering to pick over the corpses of the casualties. This is a crunch election.
How to deal with the financial crisis:
That means protecting jobs, homes, wages, super and our communities during the tough times that lie ahead.
It means protecting your savings by guaranteeing deposits in some financial institutions like Kiwibank. We will extend this to some banks but the funds must stay in New Zealand - not be sent to some cash-strapped merchant bank overseas.
The donations controversy:
Well, we have made mistakes; all parties do. But we give you this assurance: Nobody has profited by one dollar and every cent donated ended up in the right place. No fraud will be found because there is none.
Tax:
Reduce GST from 12.5 to 10 per cent. That will make goods cheaper without adding to inflation. We want the first $100 a week earned to be tax free. That means you can earn $5200 a year with investments before the tax man starts knocking on the door.
Maori:
Keep what is best in our culture and strive to keep improving our health, education and job opportunities.
Maori have been here 1000 years. And we are being let down by the individuals who show a face of Maori that is alien to a proud people.
To these individuals we say: stop disgracing your proud heritage and culture. Real Maori men do not beat up women and children. They do not feed drugs to young people. They do not hang out in gangs and prey on the weak and defenceless. They do not sell their teenage sisters and girlfriends into prostitution.
And the Maori women we know nurture and protect their young. They do not mistreat them.
National and the Maori Party:
Apparently they have been acting like they are very good friends and this relationship is tipped to become a full blown partnership.
What a mix! Merchant bankers and Maori separatists. One lot will be trying to sell the country out from under us - while the other will be setting up a separate state.
The free trade deal with China:
When we opposed it, there were some who criticised us. Well, where are the critics now? The deal is already as sour as the milk in their baby food products.
We grow the best food in the world. It's a great pity that we don't always eat it ourselves but apparently, in the name of free trade and globalisation, it is better to eat food produced with slave labour from some polluted factory in some far off country. This is the sort of political madness we have been fighting against for decades.
