Winston Peters yesterday announced the bleeding obvious, that he is going to attempt a resurrection of Lazarus’ comeback…again.
And he has launched an attack against the fairy princess and her government while he is at it:
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has given no hint of any intention to retire, and instead declared his party will be back in 2023.
Peters used his speech at the party’s AGM in Auckland today to slam a multitude of parties and policies including Labour, National, the Greens, the use of the word “Aotearoa” instead of “New Zealand” in Government reports, the Auckland cycle bridge, Auckland light rail and “Ngati Woke”.
It was his first major appearance since NZ First failed to return to Parliament last year.
Peters accused Labour of bad faith politics last term by “deliberately” suppressing the He Puapua report, for “breath-taking economic illiteracy” in its feebate scheme, and for pushing through infrastructure – such as Auckland’s $785 million cycle bridge – without doing the proper costings.
“This [He Puapua] report is a recipe for Maori separatism. They knew it and that’s why they suppressed it till after the election … it was a gesture of ingratitude and bad faith.
“Growing in our country is a ‘cancel culture’ where anyone who asks legitimate questions is belittled as a colonialist, a racist, a bigot, a chauvinist, or worse still, not new wokage.”
NZ Herald
There are some who voted Labour at the last election who couldn’t bring themselves to vote National. They could vote NZ First. That is whom Winston is pitching at:
Peters didn’t traverse the party’s review into what went wrong last year in his speech, but said there was a growing sentiment among the public that the Government needed NZ First.
“How many working-class men and women regardless of their ethnic background, are going to be able to afford your EV alternative?” he said of the Government’s feebate scheme, which his party blocked last term.
“What will happen to the old EV batteries? Can you see the Greens running now?”
“We were pilloried for being the handbrake, but since the last election hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders are coming to understand why we were essential and now why we are missed.”
NZ Herald
That is a line we won’t hear the end of. Sometimes we actually do need a handbrake. I bet many wish we had one now.
Winston Peters should be able to carve a nice niche sitting between Labour and National. The question is whether or not it will be five percent.
Carving five percent out of Labour would be harmful to Jacinda Ardern’s hopes for a third term: not fatal, but harmful.
National supporters will need to get over themselves, however, and start thinking of the bigger picture. Do they really want to see a third term of this government?
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