Winston Peters pledges to remove paedophiles' name suppression

Winston Peters. Photo / Northern Advocate

Winston Peters has announced his party will introduce a bill to remove name suppression from paedophiles in cases where the victims say they do not want it.

Mr Peters made the announcement in a street meeting in Paihia today.

"There have been so many cases of sexual violence in New Zealand where the offender hides behind a cloak of secrecy imposed on the basis that secrecy protects the victim."

He said his bill would remove that "legal cone of silence" in cases where the victim wanted the crime exposed.

He said NZ First would also propose a sex offender register, so parents would know if there was a child sex offender in their neighbourhood.

At the same public meeting, Mr Peters was also asked about the Super GoldCard entitlements that Northlanders qualify for, and why free ferry travel did not apply to the Russell to Paihia ferry, given Aucklanders had the Waiheke Island ferry.

Mr Peters replied he would push for that to happen because Northland seniors were not getting a fair deal compared to Aucklanders.

He was also asked about how accessible he would be if he was the local MP, and whether he would hold clinics locally. Mr Peters promised he would have "agents" working locally for him to ensure people were listened to.

His day was made after former Labour MP Colin Moyle went past and said he had voted for Mr Peters. Mr Moyle had beaten Mr Peters in the Hunua electorate in 1981 - the year he returned to Parliament after resigning in 1977 over Muldoon's accusations of homosexuality.

Yesterday Mr Moyle said he never thought he would see the day when he was voting for Mr Peters. However, he believed it was in the interests of Northlanders to do so and important to make Northland a more marginal seat.