No Love Lost As Winston Peters And Chris Hipkins Trade Barbs

Giles
Dexter, Political Reporter

Former Cabinet
colleagues Winston Peters and Chris Hipkins have traded
blows, after the NZ First leader accused Labour of
abandoning workers, and blaming it for the recession the
current government has to deal with.

In his hour-long
State of the Nation speech in Christchurch on Sunday, Peters
mentioned Labour 30 times.

He accused Labour of no
longer representing workers, and that it was instead focused
on “race, culture wars, rainbow wars, and Marxist
ideals”.

He blamed Labour for the economy the
government inherited, accusing Hipkins and Grant Robertson
of a “litany of lies” for statements they made at the PREFU
ahead of the election.

“Within six months of that
litany of lies, our country was suffering from the deepest
and longest economic downturn and recessionary retraction
for over three decades,” Peters said.

Speaking to RNZ
after hearing the speech, Hipkins said New Zealand was
poised for recovery when this government took office, and
the recession was due to decisions it made.

“If
anybody knows how to tell lies about the New Zealand
economy, it’s Winston Peters. He’s had a lifetime of
experience,” Hipkins said.

He said Peters had come
back from the US seeking to emulate Donald Trump.

“I
think the fact Winston Peters spent the vast majority of his
speech talking about Labour shows that clearly he’s not
particularly proud of the accomplishments of the government
that he’s a part of,” Hipkins said.

“This
is the most right wing, pro-privatization, pro-neoliberalism
government that New Zealand has seen in at least 30 years,
and Winston Peters is integral to that government. He
clearly doesn’t want to talk about that, so he spends all
his time talking about Labour.”

Peters did spend some
time talking about actions New Zealand First has taken, or
is intending to take, in government, such as fighting ‘woke’
banks, and fining people who do not use the bathrooms of
their designated sex.

He also spoke of the the removal
of diversity, equity, and inclusion targets in the public
service, and the removal of relationship and sexuality
education guidelines.

He claimed the only reason New
Zealand First voted in favour of diversity targets and
relationship and sexual education guidelines when last in
government was because Labour had kept the facts
hidden.

“You know full well it was during the full
time of a Covid lockdown. We didn’t have a chance to even be
here, some of us, to get our head around it. And the moment
we discovered what it was about, we went for it, and put out
all the reasons why this introduction back in 2020 went so
perversely wrong,” he said.

Former New Zealand First
MP Tracey Martin was the minister responsible for
introducing the education guidelines.

“The trouble
with being on this side of right is that you keep so much
dubious company,” Peters said, quoting Winston
Churchill.

“We all make mistakes.”

Asked whether
that meant Martin, who is no longer part of the party, was
“dubious company,” Peters said that was not what he
meant.

“That is not what the party at the time knew to
be the case. My colleagues behind me will endorse that, and
that’s my position. I’m not ducking from it.”

He also
criticised the Paris Agreement, which a National government
signed New Zealand up to, though stopped short of saying New
Zealand should withdraw.

“Why are we making a rod for
our own backs? Punishing our farmers and our taxpayers and
our economy, when China or the US could sneeze and produce
more CO2 overnight than we do in a year?”

On their way
in and out of the speech, attendees told RNZ they were
hoping to hear Peters speak about a range of topics,
including vaccine mandates, fluoridation, the gene
technology bill, and pay equity for support
workers.

They did not get all of those things. But
what they did get was a declaration of war.

“To get to
where we want to get to, we first have to deal with the
plethora of malignant policies surrounding our nation, and
stopping progress. We’re going to declare a war on woke,”
Peters told the 800-strong crowd of supporters, and
protestors.

Peters’ speech was interrupted seven times
by protestors calling on him to take a stronger line against
Israel.

The
deputy prime minister had anticipated disruption, writing
attacks on them into his speech.

“That’s how
communist, fascist and anti-democratic losers work. That’s
their idea of a hard day’s work. Well, we have news for
them, and it’s all bad. As Elvis sang, ‘looking for trouble,
you’ve come to the right place,'” he said.

Speaking
outside, ahead of the speech, organiser John Minto said
Peters was appeasing Israel by not speaking
up.

“They’re terrified that if they draw attention to
New Zealand standing up for human rights, and against what
Israel is doing, that Donald Trump might impose tariffs on
New Zealand. And that is not the reason we should not speak
out,” he said.

In response, Peters reiterated New
Zealand supported a two-state solution, and again accused
the protestors of fascism.

Protestors for and against
the ban on greyhound racing, which Peters has announced as
racing minister, were also outside.

Greyhound trainer
Craig Roberts said he was “gutted” about the ban, and was
hopefuly Peters would change his mind.

“We’re
Winston’s people. A lot of us helped him get in power, and
we thought we’d be safe with Winston being minister of
racing,” he said.

Supporter of the ban Sarah Jackson
was wary a large number of submissions opposing the bill
would make Peters reconsider.

“If we become
complacent, and we think that everyone’s against it and we
don’t do submissions, there’s a chance,” she
said.

Peters, however, seemed unlikely to change his
mind, citing a number of reviews into the
sport.

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