NZ First leader Winston Peters has
mounted a defence of his party’s proposal to define “woman”
in law when questioned over its enforcement in a sometimes
fiery interview with RNZ’s Morning Report.
The
party has proposed new legislation to ensure
the term “woman” is interpreted as “an adult human
biological female” and “man” as an “adult human biological
male” across all laws.
The member’s bill, submitted in
the name of MP Jenny Marcroft, comes days after Britain’s
highest court ruled
that only biological – and not trans – women meet the
definition of a woman under the UK’s laws.
The
bill is not government policy and will only be debated if it
is pulled at random from the ballot.
Speaking on
Morning Report, Peters said New Zealand First had
been arguing the matter “for years” and it aligned New
Zealand with the majority.
“It would be catching up
with the mass majority of people in the world and not going
down some woke leftist ideology track where no-one knows
what’s what.”
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Peters said the government had “no place
in the nation’s bedrooms” but the proposed law was simply
“putting the facts out there that are biologically
correct”.
Asked how it would be enforced, Peters said
transgender women would not be challenged until they walked
into a single-sex space, or if they wanted to participate in
a sporting situation like rugby or boxing.
“If you’re
going to make a claim that you have something you’re not,
yes, you will be subjected to a biological test. And why
not?” he said.
Peters said he intended this bill to
replace a
self-identification law which allows New Zealand
citizens to change their registered sex on their birth
certificate.
That legislation was introduced by former
NZ First MP Tracey Martin when she was Internal Affairs
minister. She then paused progress on the bill in 2019
citing “complications”.
It was later picked up after
the 2020 election by Martin’s successor, Labour’s Jan
Tinetti, and passed unanimously in 2021.
Peters
objected to a question about Martin’s involvement, saying
Parliament was in lockdown and: “She got away with doing
that behind our backs.”
Approached for comment, Martin
told RNZ: “If two men are going to talk about me, it would
be nice if they got their facts right.”
Peters:
‘You’re a disgrace’
Towards the end of the Morning
Report interview, Peters also took aim at interviewer
Corin Dann, accusing him of advancing the views of NZ
First’s opponents.
Dann had raised the criticism
lodged by Labour and the Greens that Peters was importing a
culture war to distract from his failures at
home.
Peters said the line of questioning was “so
typical” of RNZ.
“The fact is, you’re paid for by the
taxpayer and sooner or later we’re going to cut that water
off too, because you’re an abuse on the taxpayer. You’re not
hearing both sides of the story, you keep on putting the
argument of the woke left.
“You’re a disgrace to the
mainstream media.”
He also said that when other
political parties were interviewed the atmosphere was
“placid,” adding it was little wonder that public faith in
the media was dropping.
Dann pushed back on Peters’
allegations: “I’m sorry, but you’re not going to accuse me
of putting up [your critics’] arguments and believing in
them. I’m the Devil’s advocate here and I put up the
argument for you to answer.”
An RNZ spokesperson said
RNZ had a rigourous editorial policy that demanded its work
was always underpinned by fairness, accuracy, independence,
respect and decency.
“This was a robust political
interview where our interviewer conducted himself in a
professional manner.” the spokesperson said in a
statement.
“RNZ was recently recognised as New
Zealand’s most trusted news brand. A result that is
consistent with our own research that shows trust in RNZ has
increased over the last year and a result that demonstrates
our strategic focus on improving trust.
“We will
continue to deliver reliable and trustworthy information to
all New Zealanders and cover the topical issues of the
day.”
Other parties weigh in
Prime Minister
Christopher Luxon, speaking from London, said National as a
caucus would consider the bill if it was drawn from the
ballot.
However, he said he had already made his views
clear that “pregnant people, frankly, are
women”.
“Let’s have some common sense about it, and
let’s use some common sense language.”
Luxon said New
Zealanders were more concerned about the government focusing
on the economy, law and order, health, and
education.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ it was
“highly unlikely” Labour would support the
bill.
“We’ve had a long and proud tradition of
empowering people to be who they are, to respect people’s
individual identities, and I think that’s highly unlikely to
change. And frankly, it’s kind of bizarre that this is
Winston Peters’ number one priority at the moment,” he
said.
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