OPINION
The Media Party is all aquiver that Winston Peters seems to have more courage than them when it comes to calling things as they seem. He’s doubled down on Bob Carr, calling him an ‘irrelevant ill-informed shill’ which, given the ample information that abounds on the internet, seems entirely accurate:
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has responded to a threat from an Australian ex-politician’s legal threat as ”irrelevant ill-informed shill’.
Peters has been sent a formal letter from former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr threatening defamation action.
The letter was in response to Peters’ comments on a radio interview on Thursday that were later repeated in the House of Parliament.
“We place you on notice that we are now in the process of instructing New Zealand lawyers to advise in relation to the immediate commencement in New Zealand of defamation proceedings against you,” the letter read.
“… The Statements are indefensibly defamatory of our client and have no basis in fact. In that regard, our client has never had any business relationship with any Chinese entity, nor has he ever served on the Board of any Chinese company.
“Further, he has never acted as an adviser or consultant to any Chinese company, nor has he ever been in receipt of any income from any Chinese shareholding or investment consultancy.”
Peters appears unphased [sic] by the threat, posting on social media a fiery response.
“We should never be accepting of any irrelevant ill-informed shill from some other country to walk into New Zealand and try to tell us what to do,” Peters said on X (formerly Twitter).
“Here in New Zealand, we respect something called a ‘country’s independent nationhood’. That principle seems lost on these people who just use it as a punchline.”
Speaking to reporters after he gave a speech to the New Zealand China Council, Peters said he is standing up for New Zealand’s independence when it comes to foreign matters.
“I am not going to get deviated on this matter,” Peters said. “This is not my first legal rodeo.”
…
As for the formal letter sent to Peters, he said he has been too busy to look at it but has had “so many lawyers” telling him: “Winston I want to be in”.
Newshub
He’s not backing down.
I reckon Winston should post on X and Facebook every day the number of days since Chumbawamba and Bob Carr haven’t sued him.
Bob Carr must be really stupid. Winston’s lawyers will be salivating at the discovery process, especially his bank account information.
There is copious evidence that Carr is indeed a shill for Chinese interests. Even the South China Morning Post notes:
“Bob Carr, ex-Australian envoy with close China ties”
South China Morning Post
Also, Winston’s attackers might have to eat their words about Carr never receiving money from China:
After leaving office he was director of the Australia-China Relations Institute, a part of the University of Technology Sydney which today takes funding from a range of companies that do business with or in China, including Beijing’s state-owned China Construction Bank.
South China Morning Post
The Conversation published an article about Chinese pollution of Australian politics, specifically naming Carr as well in their article about ‘agents of foreign influence’:
Former federal trade minister Andrew Robb says he has quit his A$880,000-a-year consultancy job with Chinese-owned Landbridge Group because it didn’t have anything for him to do.
Former Victorian premier John Brumby says he has quit as a director of Chinese tech giant Huawei in Australia because he has too much else to do.
Former federal foreign minister and ex-NSW premier Bob Carr has quit his job as director of the Australia-China Relations Institute, an organisation bankrolled by a Chinese billionaire with a history of using donations to cosy up to politicians.
It might be just a coincidence that these decisions have come just days before new foreign influence transparency laws come into effect on March 1.
The Conversation
Winston Peters must be thanking the political gods for gifting this war against both Bob Carr and the Media Party.
Perhaps he should channel Tom Petty:
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