Winston Peters believes the government was too slow to react to the discovery of the potentially devastating fungus myrtle rust in Northland recently.
The New Zealand First leader came out firing over the incident, calling Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy "dumb" for saying it arrived "by air" when it was found in a plant nursery. Peters believes this indicates it was brought in by humans.
New Zealand First's latest press release has labelled Prime Minister Bill English as "puzzled and confused" and states he has "lost his grip over Pike River, youth unemployment and migrants using New Zealand as a back door to get into Australia."
Other topics in today's interview with The Country's Jamie Mackay include, tax cuts, whether there's a bit of give and take between New Zealand First and National and why Winston Peters isn't featuring highly on the Registry for Pecuniary Interest.
Have a listen to the full interview in the audio clip above.
