Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Winston Peters says he should have been warned ahead of Christopher Luxon’s leadership vote this week.
Christopher Luxon said there had been intense media speculation about his position, and Tuesday’s ballot would put things to rest.
While he was successful, the prime minister refused to take questions about it afterwards or say if it was unanimous.
Asked on Morning Report if he should have been warned ahead of the vote, the NZ First leader said: “It would have been wise to yes, of course.”
“In plain ambit of human relations and cooperation, the answer is of course, yes.”
Peters, whose parliamentary career began in the 1970s, said it was an “unprecedented” move from a sitting prime minister, and not one he supported.
“Because you see, you can tell when the next one’s going to happen. Not initiated by himself, but by others, and just wait for the next round of polls. And that’s the sad thing.
“I mean, this is unprecedented… there are going to be consequences. They’re seriously predictable consequences. But what I was astonished by was that they didn’t seem to understand, sadly, what they were doing. And here we are, part of the coalition, where stability of government all the way to the 2026 election and beyond is the critical component. And this is not helpful.”
Asked if he was essentially telling the National Party – which unlike NZ First, has been sliding in the polls – to get its act together, Peters said: “Well, you’ve phrased it that way, but I don’t disagree with you.”
Peters said a leadership spill would not have voided the NZ First-National coalition agreement, but that it would need to be “reshaped” – and warned National MPs against trying it again.
“You don’t sit here with all your responsibilities without looking at possible scenarios playing out and looking at every alternative. And if it’s like an octopus, the decision-making conclusion’s like an octopus with eight legs – you better understand all eight possible legs, not just three of them, five of them… You’ve got too many people with too little experience giving their views about what the outcome should be. That’s tragic.
“And I can go back to a former time when leadership lasted far longer because parties realised, ‘Hang on, we’ve got to this point, we have to stay solid with our first decisions rather than changing like a yo-yo,’ which you’ve seen in New Zealand in recent times.”
Peters said it was important the government get back to the basics of governing “as fast as possible”.
“Our job is to provide stability for the New Zealand people who are fighting petrol price rises, fuel price, supermarket, power pricing. That’s what New Zealanders are concerned about.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
