Jo Moir
Political editor
Analysis:
Winston Peters is on a mission and says the idea that either
Chris will be calling the shots once the votes are counted
is a nonsense.
With just 26 days of the election
campaign to go, the New Zealand First leader is by far the
most experienced political leader, having first entered
Parliament with the National Party in 1978 before breaking
off and setting up his own party in 1993.
In the first
MMP election held in 1996, New Zealand First won 17 seats
and Peters took on his first stint as deputy prime minister
and treasurer.
Heading into the November election, 30
years after the birth of MMP, Peters is convinced stability
will return to the increasingly fragmented political
landscape this year.
Asked about the evolution of MMP
and the potential for three or four parties being needed to
form a government based on current polling, Peters said that
was a suspicion he did not agree with.
“I think that
things are going to be stabilised at the end of this event,”
he says with confidence.
Asked
to explain whether he thought a two-party governing
arrangement was still possible, he replied, “I’m not going
to tell you what the permutations are, but there are
variations on the thing, which go to the core of your
question.”
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“Let’s just say the composition of the
government,” he added.
Last week National’s
Christopher Luxon and Labour’s Chris Hipkins sparred in the
first televised leaders’ debate – something Peters is miffed
about.
“Why have we seen these two leaders going
head-to-head when they will not be deciding the outcome come
election day, of that I can guarantee you.
“The first
person gets up and says ‘the National government’s going to
do this’. The other person says the ‘Labour government’s
going to do that’.
“Neither such things exist anymore;
they just don’t exist,” he exclaimed.
“But they’re
allowed to get away with that sort of language, and in so
many ways, the tragedy is – deliberate or not – that the
mainstream media are allowing a conversation to happen as
though it’s first-past-the-post when it was no longer the
case for 33 years.”
Labour
and ACT have both released fiscal plans already this
campaign and National is due to do the same on Monday, but
Peters pushes back on questions about whether his party will
do the same.
“Well, we have got a fiscal plan, and
we’ve outlaid it for two years. We talked about having a
future sovereign fund, what it would cost, and how much
would be put into it.
“We laid out that plan two years
ago, and we’re going to keep on developing that in more
detail in the next few weeks,” he said.
As for other
parties, Peters doesn’t believe anything is adding
up.
“When you talk about costings, see nobody’s
costings are working.
“They’re just lying when they
say they are working.”
Peters says that is because the
country’s growth rate is nowhere near high enough to afford
what is being promised.
“If the economy goes on the
way that it is, then all these promises that are being made
are worthless because they won’t have the money to do
it.”
So after nearly 50 years in and around politics
is the octogenarian, who has held some of the most senior
roles in government multiple times, enjoying being back in
the thick of another campaign for re-election?
“Well,
I’m still getting inspirations, yes, I get serious
inspirations from it, but I never understood why people say,
“are you enjoying it? Because it’s not a matter of
enjoyment.
“When you’re on a mission, you’re there to
make sure something happens and you believe in the national
interest.
“So whether you get an enjoyment out of it,
it’s not the point, whether you, like as any decent servant
does, feel rewarded by the outcome, that’s probably more
important,” he concluded.
Peters still firmly believes
New Zealand is an attractive place to live, work, and raise
a family – “but it’s not as attractive as it used to
be”.
“Our job is to restore it, make it an attractive
place again for people to come here who we need, not who
need us.”
New Zealand First released its party list
last week with well-known new candidates getting prime spots
near the top.
While Peters and his fellow current
ministers Shane Jones, Casey Costello and Mark Patterson
took the top four spots, the next five rankings went to
fresh candidates over sitting MPs.
Former National
Party minister Alfred Ngaro, former National MP and
Whanganui Mayor Michael Laws, former National MP Harete
Hipango-Brownlie, former chair of the Financial Markets
Authority Craig Stobo, and former All Black captain Taine
Randell rounded out the top nine.
In a surprise move,
former Defence Minister and New Zealand First MP Ron Mark –
who left politics in 2020 – was given the low ranking of 16
on the list despite the party talking up his chances of
reclaiming his old ministerial posting if back in
government.
Mark had approached the party about a
return some time ago, but then dragged the chain confirming
whether he would actually run.
Not helping his
prospects were comments to media he had other opportunities
abroad he could pursue, and making clear he wasn’t excited
by the idea of returning to Parliament.
The party has
also been keen to present as a rejuvenated version of itself
that is attracting candidates from the old National
guard.
Ngaro would have secured a decent list ranking
before committing to joining the party, while Laws’ high
spot lines up with the party being keen for him to hold
local government minister in any future
government.
Hipango-Brownlie has political experience
but also brings a background in law, and a similar te ao
Māori view of the world to Peters and Jones.
Stobo
has credibility in finance and the economy while Randell is
arguably more of a household name than Peters himself, and
will be getting primed for a leadership role down the
line.
Peters believes the list is the “best set of
candidates we’ve ever had”.
“We’ve got a real team,
make no bones about it, and that’s what’s giving us the
confidence in our present circumstance that we’re going to
do well.
“But our job is to ensure we get the maximum
number of those people into Parliament.”
It’s all
still on the table according to Peters who is convinced
nothing is set in stone yet.
“The election is going to
be decided in the next three
weeks.”
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