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March 27, 2025
NZ First Introduces Bill That Gives Democracy Back To The People
Temporarily empowered politicians should not be the ones making the final decision on issues that change the social fabric of New Zealand – it should be made by every New Zealander.
March 23, 2025
“Make New Zealand First Again”
“Make New Zealand First Again” - Winston Peters delivers his State of the Nation speech
March 17, 2025
MP Views: Living Strong, The Economy, Servicing Our Nation, The Golden Egg, and 4 Year Terms
In this edition of MP Views New Zealand First MPs discuss living strong and aging well, the economy, servicing our nation, the golden egg of opportunity, and 4-year terms.
March 07, 2025
NZ First Introduces Bill to Remove Woke ‘DEI’ Regulations from Public Service
New Zealand First Introduces Bill to Remove Woke ‘DEI’ Regulations from Public Service
February 27, 2025
The week in review
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. This week we've made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand.
February 21, 2025
MP Views: The Golden Age, The Red Band Cavalry, and Social Media
This week New Zealand First MPs talk the 'Golden' age, the 'Red Band Cavalry', the impacts of fluoride on kiwi homes, and the power of social media.
February 13, 2025
Democracy Matters
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country.
February 11, 2025
NZ First Introduces Fluoridation Referendum Bill
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water.
February 10, 2025
NZ First Introduces Bill To Fight ‘Woke Banks’
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”.
February 07, 2025
MP Views: Waitangi Day 2025
This week New Zealand First MPs reflected on the importance of Waitangi Day and the future of New Zealand.
February 05, 2025
Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones NZ First will not support David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill any further. Debate over the Treaty’s Māori and English translated versions has polarised discussions, alienating many people. NZ First believes Waitangi Day should focus on unity and celebration, with inclusive activities highlighting national identity and shared ideals.
February 01, 2025
MP Views: Tough on crime, water storage, Easter trading laws, and vocational training
This week our MPs covered a range of issues from law and order to trading laws.
December 09, 2024
Winston Peters - Kinleith Mill Speech
As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut the Kinleith’s paper machine and move to a paper import model for their packaging operations. The most significant reason for this is that they say manufacturing paper has become unprofitable. And further, that paper production at Kinleith Mill has suffered significant losses for several years – with very little hope in these current circumstances to see any real changes. That is what the present government has inherited. We believe you, the workers, need a longer period of consultation to really understand the potential alternatives to stopping paper production completely. Ladies and gentlemen, as leader of New Zealand First we will be listening to your unions, your employers, and local leaders. We are here tonight to listen, to do everything our party can to advocate for you, to work with you, and to ensure we see an opportunity to come to a real solution, not only for Kinleith, but for the future of our industries around our country.
November 29, 2024
COURT OF APPEAL RULING: SFO METHODS “OVERREACH, UNLAWFUL, OPPRESSIVE"
Today the Court of Appeal has found the Serious Fraud Office has been acting indiscriminately and unlawfully throughout an eight year long investigation. The SFO has shown their incompetence and arrogance and shown to be abusing their authority to conduct its own overreaching and unlawful fishing expeditions. The Court of Appeal said the SFO has relied on its misuse of compulsory interview and production powers, and unlawful use of search warrants. They ruled that the number and breadth of the notices and warrants was unnecessary, unreasonable and oppressive.
October 31, 2024
Mark Patterson: Farmers understand we have their backs
Spring is here which means the start of the A&P show season. Those treasured community days where town meets country. There's no rural-urban divide here, just a chance to meet up with family and old friends and celebrate all things that make rural New Zealand so special.
October 27, 2024
Jamie Arbuckle: Inquiry into Banking Competition
This week was the start of the bank inquiry hearings into banking competition. The inquiry was confirmed in the NZ First/National Coalition agreement. 140 submissions were received on the inquiry, and we will hear from over 60 submitters including all the major banks.
October 25, 2024
Tanya Unkovich: It’s time to start the debate on palliative care as a ‘right’
There is one topic that is the great human leveller, and that is of death and dying. One day, we will all have to face it, and I am of the belief that being able to pass away with grace and dignity is a vital, basic, human right. How we face it, and what we have access to during our final act, can be the difference between suffering, and dignity.
October 18, 2024
New Zealand First Member’s Bill to Improve Access to Palliative Care
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill which aims to improve access to palliative care for all New Zealanders, ensuring kiwis have better access to the compassionate palliative support they may need. The ‘Improving Access to Palliative Care Bill’ seeks to guarantee that every New Zealander has the right to receive high-quality palliative care whenever it is needed.
October 17, 2024
Casey Costello: What Once Was...
Entering politics is a privilege afforded to very few and, as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility.
October 01, 2024
Casey Costello: International Day of Older Persons
Throughout New Zealand it is difficult to think of a sports club, charity, church group, festival, foundation, or service organisation that does not owe its existence, effectiveness, or success to the contribution of older New Zealanders.
August 29, 2024
July 30, 2024
The woke agenda of the left
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins’ comments on the weekend that the government’s coalition agreements are ‘racist and anti-Māori’ shows not only how myopic and out of touch his thinking is, but it puts in neon lights just how siloed his party is in their obsessive echo-chamber. They have become the ‘party of moral outrage’ – obsessed with accusations, ‘gotcha politics’, woke ideology, and opposing anything that happens to float by.
June 12, 2024
Banking Inquiry on its way.
Today the coalition government has announced that a select committee inquiry into banking competition will be led by the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee. New Zealand First campaigned to take on foreign owned banks, and we committed to that in our coalition agreement by ensuring the inquiry has a broad and deep criteria that focuses on competitiveness, customer services, and profitability.
May 24, 2024
New Zealand First Member’s Bill to protect Freedom of Speech
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect New Zealander’s right of free speech. The “Protection of Freedom of Expression Bill” will ensure that no organisation or individual, when acting within the law, is unreasonably denied use of a public venue for an organised event or gathering due solely to holding a differing opinion or belief. It achieves this by setting out responsibilities for facilitating free speech in public venues. “A vital part of a functioning democracy is to ensure that everyone can have their say within the law” says New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters.
May 22, 2024
$24 million for free mental health counselling for young kiwis
The Rt Hon Winston Peters, joined by Mike King, has announced $24 million over four years for the ‘I Am Hope Foundation’, and will provide young people aged between 5 to 25 years with free mental health counselling services. This funding will help I Am Hope’s ‘Gumboot Friday’ initiative give more than 15,000 young New Zealanders access to free mental health counselling sessions.
May 10, 2024
New Zealand First Member’s Bill to protect women’s spaces
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms.
May 07, 2024
TIKANGA IS NOT LAW. IT IS CULTURAL INDOCTRINATION.
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. What is most concerning is the Dean of the AUT Law School, Kylee Quince, funded by the taxpayer, decided to typically stoop to a gutter level and call Judd an ‘old racist dinosaur’ who should ‘die quietly in the corner’
March 26, 2024
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS
For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful manner. In April of 2020, six months before the 2020 general election, the SFO launched an attack on New Zealand First, for political not legal reasons, and have now failed three times.
March 25, 2024
‘SAILGP DEBACLE’ A DISASTER FOR NEW ZEALAND’S FUTURE
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP have spot-lighted the overly influential bureaucratic processes, power-drunk government departments, and some decision makers who clearly care more about their fiefdoms than our country’s economic development and international reputation.
March 19, 2024
STATEMENT ON CHUMBAWAMBA MEDIA ENQUIRIES
New Zealand First has not received any cease-and-desist phone call, email, letter, or anything of the sort from the former band nor any other representative – and we don’t expect to.
March 19, 2024
MEDIA MISREPRESENTATION, INCONSISTENCY, AND DRIPPING BIAS
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance to the holocaust’. This line has been repeated over and over again.
March 17, 2024
State of the Nation – We Got Back Up Again
We must remember, New Zealand is the beneficiary of Western values, democracy, and the rule of law. And the advancement and enhancement of those principles have only occurred in those societies that have united together as one people - and who celebrate their nationhood instead of perpetuating division.
March 13, 2024
Shane Jones: No more Treaty clause 'mission creep'
But what will be left of any new Treaty clauses to monitor is an open question because of a radical direction the coalition Government is taking already, ahead of the review. It is no longer putting general Treaty clauses in legislation. That became evident last week when the Fast-Track Approvals Bill was unveiled, which sets out a process for ministers to approve significant infrastructure projects. It did not have a general clause. But leaving out a general Treaty clause is not a one-off, says New Zealand First’s Regional Development Minister Shane Jones, who helped Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop to produce the bill. There will be no more general Treaty clauses in any new legislation, he said.
March 08, 2024
Completing The First 100 Days Plan
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order issues, and delivering better public services for New Zealanders. New Zealand First has achieved a significant body of work as laid out in our 100-day plan and we look forward to continuing to progress our work plan even further during this term.
March 01, 2024
Winston Peters: The state of New Zealand's media
New Zealand First has always held the view that the "fourth estate" is essential to any successful functioning democracy. But it’s not just the existence of the fourth estate that is essential. It is the matter of a fourth estate that is impartial, politically neutral, fair and objective. These are the qualities and attributes that the public expect of an effective media in any free society – but they are lacking in much of the media landscape today. The revelation that Newshub is set to close is obviously devastating not only for those who will lose their jobs, but it is also seriously concerning for the robustness of our media scene.
February 27, 2024
Passing of Charles Crofts ONZM
Charles Crofts was a principled man who demonstrated an unwavering spirt of service. This was evidenced by the decades for work for communities and on boards of various organisations in Canterbury and across Maoridom including being Chair of Koukourarata Rūnanga on Banks Peninsula and Kaumātua for the Christchurch City Council.
February 20, 2024
February 02, 2024
Covid-19 Inquiry Update
We are happy to announce that the terms of reference on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 response have been expanded. This includes what we committed to in our coalition agreement, to: Ensure, as a matter of urgency in establishment and completion, a full scale, wide ranging, independent inquiry conducted publicly with local and international experts, into how the Covid pandemic was handled in New Zealand, including covering: Use of multiple lockdowns, Vaccine procurement and efficacy, The social and economic impacts on both regional and national levels, and Whether the decisions made, and steps taken, were justified.
September 28, 2023
Policy Announcements: Law & Order and Justice, Courts & Corrections
New Zealand First believes that keeping society safe should be the priority of law-and-order policies. Every New Zealander deserves to feel safe, secure, and have their person and property respected. That is why New Zealand First continues to fix the flaws in our justice system, while ensuring that victims of crime are prioritised over offenders. The safety of our communities is the first responsibility of government and includes the capabilities and resourcing of our police. New Zealand First is the only party with the record of seriously boosting police force numbers with the necessary funding, training, and personnel to meet the challenges of our growing population. That is why in our last time of government we targeted an increase of 1800 new frontline police. That commitment in its maturity saw 2338 new police trained.
September 28, 2023
Labour's Dirt Campaign Exposed With Media Help
In last night’s leaders debate Labour Leader Chris Hipkins referred to a quote without giving any explanation of its content, which was about the ‘disease of co-governance’ that is perpetuated by the Māori elite, and he said it was racist. Then, without even examining the content, National leader Christopher Luxon agreed with him that it was racist. That is not showing experience. Any experienced person would demand to know what the context was of the quote being talked about before getting sucked in. Our Candidate Rob Ballantyne made those comments in a speech at a Rotary candidate meeting three weeks ago in Timaru. The media (Stuff) was there, filmed it, wrote an article about the meeting, but never mentioned that so-called “outrageous, deplorable, and racist” quote in their article. Three days ago, I warned a senior journalist Jo Moir, Labour would soon begin its dirt campaign. She reported it, and right on target last night, Hipkins began a dirt campaign against Winston Peters and New Zealand First.
September 26, 2023
Caution RNZ - Your Bilious Bias Is Showing
RNZ only had one man on the promotion clip and said that “he could not be trusted, was in it only for himself, and he flip flops”. This is simply underhanded, dirty, nasty, media shenanigans from a taxpayer owned organization. There was never any opportunity on either show for Winston Peters or New Zealand First to defend themselves. It is clear that RNZ has long been a deteriorating organization and dripping with bilious bias.
September 26, 2023
Policy Announcement: Capped Time-Period For Job Seeker Beneficiaries
New Zealand First today is announcing a policy on adjusting the rules and restrictions around access to the Job Seeker Benefit. New Zealand First’s policy is to introduce a capped time-period for any person to access the Job Seeker Benefit during their lifetime. Any individual will have the ability to access the Job Seeker Benefit as normal, however, for no more than a total of two years across their working lifetime. If for any reason they need more financial assistance they will be expected to work in the community for their wage.
September 26, 2023
Labour's PHARMAC Policy A Placebo
Labour has just announced a policy to increase Pharmac funding by $1billion over four years to fund additional medicines. With the current Pharmac budget of $1.2billion per year and needing a further $213million, by Minister Verrall’s own admission, just to keep up with current costs - then this is nothing but a placebo announcement. Not only is the Pharmac model a failure, which Labour and other parties seek to persist with, but New Zealand is now investing less than a third per person of what Australia does for access to first world pharmaceuticals. New Zealand First has already announced a policy to get rid of Pharmac and replace it with a model that works, then add an extra $1.3billion per year to its currently grossly underfunded budget. That is the kind of real investment that is needed. Labour is persisting with a $30 billion blow out in light rail, three Auckland tunnels – two across the harbour and one through the North Shore, which shows that they simply don’t care about investing properly in public health.
September 25, 2023
Re: The Call For Corporate Manslaughter Legislation
This matter begins with the Pike River investigation being inadequate, inexplicably lengthy, and after millions of dollars, the evidence that should have been placed before the public still has not been. We have always believed that Pike River is a crime scene, and that a proper investigation would have come to that conclusion.
September 20, 2023
Foreign Minister's Action - A Contempt For "Caretaker Government" Convention
The Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s presence in New York today at the United Nations General Assembly is a contempt of New Zealand’s “caretaker government” convention. Despite the long-standing caretaker convention, Minister Mahuta is today at the UN to sign a highly contentious “Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement”, delivering a national statement on behalf of New Zealand at the UN, and then undertaking bilateral meetings with world leaders and counterparts. Parliament has risen and New Zealand is less than two weeks from when early voting begins on October 2nd. The caretaker convention has always been that these matters the Foreign Minister is engaged in, should be left to the next government to deal with. This is circa 2010 all over again when Minister Pita Sharples, without any public notice, travelled to the UN in the dead of night and signed UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) – after the previous Foreign Minister and Government had already declined to sign the declaration in 2007.
September 19, 2023
Back To Black Responsibly
Before last weeks’ Pre-election and fiscal update, known as the PREFU (12 September 2023) New Zealand First had planned to announce tax relief for hard working kiwis. We had planned today, to announce our policy that the first $14,000 earned would become tax-free. We also promised we would cost our policies to ensure they were affordable - the sensible and responsible thing to do. Ladies and gentlemen, the appalling mismanagement of Labour, over the three years since the adults in New Zealand First were made to leave the room, was laid bare for all to see in the PREFU. New Zealand First is fiscally realist. We are committed to making the first $14,000 tax-free but this commitment cannot happen until 1 April 2026, at the earliest, and 1 April 2027 at the latest. Such is the deteriorated state of the nation’s books, no party can look voters in the eye and seriously say their tax cuts are affordable now.
September 18, 2023
The Pacific Reset & the Blue Continent
Thank you for your invitation to speak with you this afternoon about New Zealand Foreign Policy. After offering one or two general thoughts about the nature of foreign policy, the focus today will be the Pacific Reset and why its goals remain even more important today as when they were launched in 2018. Now, first, foreign policy is unique when compared to other domestic-focused policy domains. Sovereign governments have agency to adapt or change domestic policy settings as they see fit, bound only by their judgements about what is possible and what is not. In contrast, in foreign policy, government agency is far more prescribed by the inter-dependent nature of the life of nations. New Zealand cannot simply live alone in peace.
September 16, 2023
September 12, 2023
PREFU Exposes Political Promises
Today’s PREFU has some alarming statistics showing an economy deteriorating and the cost of unaffordable government expenditure, mainly in the 2022 and 2023 budgets. Despite this alarming economic and fiscal picture, political parties are making unaffordable promises, talking about a surplus by 2027, or four years time, all of which depends on growth, ‘lala land’ expenditure assumptions, and an immigration blow out of 100,000 immigrants this year.
September 05, 2023
Former Wellington Mayor Andy Foster To Stand For New Zealand First
Former Wellington Mayor Andy Foster has announced he is standing for New Zealand First in the Mana electorate for the upcoming election. “As a former Mayor of our Capital City, Andy has an exceptional resume and level of professional and governance experience that will be an asset to the team.” says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. Andy is one of New Zealand’s most experienced local government politicians, serving our Capital City for many years as a Councillor and then as Mayor. He also has served on many Boards and Trusts including the world-leading Zealandia. Before this he had a background in investment finance, taught economics and was a Parliamentary researcher.
September 03, 2023
Glenfield Policy Announcement
No MP pay rises until essential workers get one first. The pay freeze for parliamentarians is due to end this year, with a hefty pay rise forecasted. The fact is when this announcement was made that Members of Parliament would receive a pay rise, in the middle of an election where the cost-of-living crisis is the biggest issue according to politicians, not one of them made mention of the hypocrisy and contradiction of them all receiving a pay rise but not our essential workers. We have a swath of essential workers including police, doctors, nurses, paramedics, midwives, corrections officers, and teachers, who are all under sustained pressure just to keep up with affording basics, and who are being forced to look for better pay and conditions overseas. One of the reasons we have a ‘squeezed middle’ is out of touch politicians and bureaucrats sitting in Wellington talking platitudes from their ivory towers. Kiwis already think the representatives sitting in the Beehive are out of touch – and this announcement, unchallenged by any of them, proves it. New Zealand First policy is: Members of Parliament should receive their pay rise only after our essential frontline workers have been adequately compensated with their own pay rises first.
August 30, 2023
National's Tax Plan: Rehashing Past Failures
National basing their future economic plan on variables like immigration and house prices is not not a formula for economic recovery. They are clearly relying on mass immigration and a mass foreign buy up of kiwi homes to fund its tax cuts - and their “squeezed middle” will be squeezed further. With “user pays immigration levy” and allowing foreign property buyers albeit with a 15% one off tax, means National need both of these measures to continually increase. And for the foreign property buyer tax to work, National must be banking on house price inflation compensating these foreign buyers for their tax. Bringing down the bright line test to just two years means the housing market will spiral out of control - with empty properties being flipped for massive profits. Mass immigration will only put pressure on our failing infrastructure, push house prices up, living costs up, and drive wages down. Low wages and high costs means we will see a flight of mainly young kiwis out of our country. This is circa 2014 all over again - a speculative consumptive economy, not a sound wealth-based, export-growth, added value way forward.
August 27, 2023
New Plymouth Policy Announcement
New Zealand First will establish a Ministry for Energy New Zealand First will establish a Fuel Security Plan New Zealand needs a Fuel Security Plan. A way of joining together all the actions required to ensure the country is appropriately protected. It needs a plan to deliver the transport services NZ must maintain through any fuel supply disruption.
August 27, 2023
Realism and Commonsense - Not Political Platitudes
Shortly before coming to this meeting, I was notified by a journalist that the Prime Minister has just held a press conference and ruled out working with New Zealand First. It seems that Mr Hipkins is in some sort of time warp. He has taken over a year and a half to finally read my speeches back to me – via a press conference with the media. He’s announcing something that everybody already knows, which is that New Zealand First has already ruled out going into any form of government with Labour – because of their racist separatist policies. The fact is the moment we knew Labour had lied to me and hidden their race-based reports and policies from their coalition partner, we ruled out ever working with them. This faux announcement from Hipkins today is all about the latest polls, including Labour’s own internal poll yesterday, that shows their vote is nose diving. And one of the reasons is not only because of their abysmal incompetent performance on their own since 2020, but because they have abandoned the workers of New Zealand, they have preferred pandering to the woke, and they have pursued policies of preference based on race.
August 26, 2023
Gloriavale slavery warrants Commission of Enquiry
Gloriavale is not an organisation that has any redeeming features, it is 50 years of secrecy, making money off child labour and abusing of woman physically and sexually from birth. NZ First is calling for a full Commission of Enquiry as to how a man described in 1996 by the Chief Justice Eichelbaum as a sexual predator was allowed by government officials to enslave these young people, deliberately isolating them from the world, subjecting them to hard labour and sexual abuse.
August 20, 2023
Pukekohe Policy Announcement
New Zealand First will formally withdraw New Zealand from UNDRIP, and its imposed race-based obligations, and restore our country’s constitutional sovereignty and democracy. New Zealand First will introduce in parliament’s first sitting week, legislation to make English an official language of New Zealand.
August 20, 2023
We Must Deal To This Racism
We are 43 days from early voting beginning on 2nd October. And overseas voting will have begun many days before that. It has been wisely said that elections are about the economy. However, in this election there is something new and of grave concern. That is, an all-out attack on this country’s constitution and democracy. And it’s all happening under the radar without any consultation or permission from you. This election campaign needs to expose what has been happening in all sectors of government, in a secret endeavour to reshape our form of government, our rights and freedoms, our history, and our values to align with the views of ideological extremists.
August 19, 2023
New Zealand First will not return Labour to power.
New Zealand First will not return Labour to power. Party Vote NZ First Let’s Take Back Our Country.
August 16, 2023
POLICY ANNOUNCEMENT: NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPACES OR SPORTS
New Zealand First policy announcement: 1. Public Bathrooms and Changing Rooms: We will pass legislation to ensure that all new public organisations that provide publicly used facilities, including in areas of sport, education or commercially, must provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. In addition, all current provision of publicly used facilities will not allow anyone access to facilities which are designed for the opposite sex use. 2. Public Funding for Sports: We will pass legislation to ensure any publicly funded sporting body that does not have an exclusive biological female category, where ordinarily appropriate, shall be immediately ineligible for any public funding.
August 16, 2023
KIWI HOUSING FOR KIWIS
Those who think allowing foreign property buyers to buy property in New Zealand while never residing in our country in order to ‘add competition’ to our market, clearly don’t understand the struggle kiwis are having buying their first home. When last in government New Zealand First ensured our housing market was for kiwi residents only and banned non-resident foreign buyers - and our stance hasn’t changed. In a property-owning democracy the government’s first priority for home ownership should be New Zealanders – not allowing a gross distortion of the market by deep-pocketed foreigners who don’t care about struggling kiwis and who just want profits and an asset bolthole if things go wrong in their own country.
August 13, 2023
For the Nation, the Whole Nation, and Nothing but the Nation
The critical issues for this election are our economy, our broken health system, our lack of law and order, our failing education system, and the cost of housing and rentals. But if these five areas of crisis are not enough already, our very democracy is at risk from a rising tide of racism and separatism, that has given birth to secret social engineering that you were never warned about and most certainly never agreed to. New Zealand First is calling for a referendum in this year’s election, for an immediate start of a four-year parliamentary term beginning in 2023. Repeal newly implemented ‘National Policy Statement” (NPS) New Zealand First will oppose any idea of closure and keep Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter open. New Zealand First will, with protections, to exempt aquaculture from the 2010 Coastal Policy Statement – which has been stopping progress and development of a much-needed aquaculture industry.
August 13, 2023
Invercargill Policy Announcements
New Zealand First is calling for a referendum in this year’s election, for an immediate start of a four-year parliamentary term beginning in 2023. New Zealand First will repeal the NPS and to give farmers back their flexibility, to adjust their activities, to maximise economic value. New Zealand First will oppose any idea of closure and keep Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter open. New Zealand First will, with protections, to exempt aquaculture from the 2010 Coastal Policy Statement – which has been stopping progress and development of a much-needed aquaculture industry.
August 10, 2023
August 07, 2023
CHRISTCHURCH MAYOR BACKS NZFIRST’S 2026 COMMONWEALTH GAMES BID
At a packed public meeting yesterday in Christchurch, New Zealand First announced a policy to prepare a bid to hold the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch and key locations of the South Island. Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger, with a proven business background, agrees it can be done particularly if we enlist the financial support of the 56-member Commonwealth.
August 06, 2023
Christchurch Policy Announcements
New Zealand First Policy Announcement. New Zealand First is announcing a policy to prepare a bid to hold the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch.
August 06, 2023
We Need Our ‘Can-Do’ Attitude Back
We are fifty-eight days out from early voting on 2nd October and everyday will be critical now. New Zealand is at an inflection point, both economically and socially. If we do not turn these circumstances around for the better, then our future is indeed bleak. Our country is technically broke, and hasn’t paid its way since 1972, and yet politicians are carrying on as though that doesn’t matter, with all manner of political promises, with some promised projects not beginning until ten years time, yet you’re being told this is their formula for recovery. Christchurch and Canterbury will be suspicious more than any other part of New Zealand. Why? Because twelve years since the Christchurch earthquake, look around and ask, “why hasn’t Christchurch been fixed yet?” Your paper, the Christchurch Press summed it all up yesterday, what’s wrong here, and that is a mirror image of much of the country.
August 02, 2023
WHY CONCEAL FINANCIAL STATE?
Is it true that State Services Commissioner Hughes met with heads of ministries yesterday to address a $20 billion hole in government revenue? The alleged purpose of the meeting was for all ministries to find and claw back cuts of 10% of Core Crown Spending to the Consolidated Fund. One guess what the Pre-Election Fiscal Update will look like on September 12.
July 30, 2023
Whangarei Policy Announcements
New Zealand First policy announcements: Northport/Marsden Point investment Establish a dry-dock in Northport, Move Ports of Auckland to Northport, Move the RNZ Navy to Northport from Devonport, Build a railway to it from the Northern Main Trunk Line, Re-establish Marsden Point Refinery’s purpose, and Brynderwyns - new four lane alternative highway. Full Scale Covid Inquiry Ensure a full scale, wide ranging, independent, one year inquiry conducted publicly with local and international experts, into how the Covid pandemic was handled in New Zealand, including covering: Use of multiple lockdowns, Vaccine procurement and efficacy, The social and economic impacts on both regional and national levels, and Whether the decisions made, and steps taken, were justified. This inquiry must not be run by Parliament, nor be restricted and narrow in its scope. This must be a public and wide-ranging inquiry – so that New Zealanders will know the truth and be properly informed.
July 30, 2023
Give Whangarei And Northland A Fair Go
That is why we are announcing today New Zealand First policy is to ensure a full scale, independent, one year inquiry conducted publicly with local and international experts, into how the Covid pandemic was handled in New Zealand, including the use of multiple lockdowns, vaccine procurement and efficacy, the social and economic impacts on both regional and national levels, and whether steps taken were justified. This inquiry must not be run by parliament, nor can it be restricted and narrow in its scope. This must be a public and wide-ranging inquiry – so that New Zealanders will know the truth and be properly informed. How can anyone concerned to get to the truth of this matter oppose such a full-scale inquiry, unless of course, they do not want their actions properly evaluated. New Zealanders paid the cost for how Covid was handled, and New Zealanders are the only ones that matter.
July 23, 2023
Let’s Take Back Our Country
Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for being here, at New Zealand First’s campaign launch. 81 days before Election Day, 69 days before Early Voting begins and 64 days before Overseas Voting starts, we meet here on a mission to save our country. No doubt you’re thinking to yourself ‘what’s in it for me?’. Given the other party slogans already out there, and one in particular, that is a very good question. This election must be about the economy. Because every issue inevitably comes back to what we must do and how we pay for it. And there’s the rub, because so many of the political promises of other parties being made have no chance of ever being kept. Why? Well, if those parties have never delivered what they campaigned on in better times, they certainly won’t deliver on them in troubled times. Remember Henry Ford’s words – ‘You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do’. Henry Ford built cars that ordinary people could afford. Right? All manner of politicians today are promising you a faster horse.
July 22, 2023
NEW ZEALAND FIRST ANNOUNCES CASEY COSTELLO AS CANDIDATE FOR 2023 ELECTION
New Zealand First has demonstrated their commitment to defending democracy and equality before the law with their candidate announcement of Casey Costello. Casey has been a spokesperson for Hobson’s Pledge for the last seven years and has been instrumental in pushing back against an agenda of race-based division that is being used to distract New Zealanders for the real issues. “Casey is a natural fit for New Zealand First - the only party that has been steadfast in our opposition to Māori being used as a political platform to divide our country,” says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters.
July 22, 2023
NZ First Convention Opening Address
It is also a time for reflection and appreciation to those wonderful supporters who formed this Party in 1993, in a climate of deep cynicism about our endurance. Many of those members and supporters are still working today and knowing this has been a cause for our ongoing commitment to our country. We formed back then a Party called New Zealand First and we have never stopped our work to make our country first, as it once was. For us it’s critical to keep looking forward to the future and shape our plans and policies always with that in mind. It’s been a difficult road but we have travelled it, together. We’re still standing when so many political parties, over the last 30 years, have come and gone, like brief flickering lights in our political universe.
July 19, 2023
FREEDOM OF SPEECH FACING BIGGEST THREAT
New Zealand First’s stance has always been that the government has no place in the nation’s bedrooms. But what has happened today is breathtaking and a serious assault on this country’s democracy and points to a disastrous interference in the upcoming election. Family First has had a newspaper advertisement cancelled by multiple news outlets at the eleventh hour – all due to the fact that those media outlets don’t like what Family First sought to advertise – promoting a website petition about the dictionary definition of ‘what is a woman’. Mainstream media is now refusing to publish the opinion held by the overwhelming majority of New Zealanders and indeed men and women worldwide.
July 16, 2023
Our Country Is Broke - Of Ideas
New Zealand was once a leading economic and social performer, where political scientists from overseas tried to understand how we, tens of thousands of miles from our markets, the size of the UK but with a small population the size of Manchester, could be a world leader with every modern facility, and unemployment registering under thirty people. We can and must become that country again. We need to modernise, using every new utility, the script that once made us great. Look at international examples of success. One common factor of those examples used to be what we did. In fact, one of the most spectacular examples of this economic success is a country that we used to assist in our foreign aid and military assistance.
July 09, 2023
Northland Needs Performance Not Promise
It wasn’t always so, but for almost five decades from the seventies you have been largely forgotten. And the lack and loss of infrastructure and much else in Dargaville and Northern Wairoa is the result. Dargaville once had a decent hospital and a maternity unit in Te Kopuru, it had a thriving dairy factory, and railway lines North to Kaihu and East to Whangarei. Our national airline even had a flight through here. Only in the last eight years has that neglect been turned around. That’s why we are here today in support of Shane Jones. In this campaign there are candidates making all sorts of promises, but where is their record of performance and delivery? There are all sorts of politicians but very few could be described as “can do” people. That is, representatives who have the intelligence, experience, and commitment to get things done, right here, right now. Representatives, who have the motivation to cut through the dross of Wellington’s bureaucracy and deliver project after project desperately needed in their electorates.
July 02, 2023
15 October. New World In The Morning?
As Winston Churchill said, “A nation who forgets its past, has no future.” We are in the heat of a political campaign where to recalibrate Henry Ford some parties are campaigning on what they haven’t done, and others are campaigning on what they are going to do. But before any party makes political promises to you in this campaign, about how they are going to pick your province up alongside the rest of New Zealand, please ask ‘what have they budgeted to fix up Hawkes Bay and areas so damaged by the Auckland weather event and by Cyclone Gabrielle’.
June 26, 2023
Enforce, Not Dilute The Law
Regrettably, Justice Minister Kiri Allen has perfectly outlined the government’s penchant for justifying keeping criminals out of prison with no regard to the community or social costs. There has been a massive increase in crime, gangs, firearm incidents, youth crime, ram raids, violent crime, and general lawlessness. All the while Labour clings on to a reduction in prison numbers as being a ‘measurement of success’.
June 25, 2023
Past Performance Not Future Promises
That was the same year that we revived the Hillside Railway Workshops and committed to building an up-to-date, new, comprehensive hospital here – not the ‘nickel and dime’ changes that Labour is promising you now. And by the way, it was New Zealand First that kept Invermay open. That funded the Centre of Digital Excellence here in Dunedin – which kick started the burgeoning IT and computer gaming industries.
June 20, 2023
Commerce Commission Banking Inquiry Labour's 'Peak Faux-Outrage'
Last year the Australian owned banks operating in New Zealand had profits of $7.15 billion, this year it will be on track to be even more excessive because of the interest rates going up. An announcement from Labour to ‘ask the Commerce Commission’ to hold an inquiry is the pure definition of trying to close the gate after the horse has well and truly bolted.
June 18, 2023
An Election – Not An Auction
Except, while imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery, it lacks authenticity. And if it lacks authenticity, then they won’t have the grit, the guts, the courage, or the know-how to stop these political extremists on both sides of parliament. In four months time you will have two votes. One for a local electorate political Party candidate, the other for the political Party of your choice, the Party Vote. It is said that politicians shake your hand before the election, and your confidence after it. Don’t let that happen to you in 2023. This is an election at an inflection point in our country’s history, and the wrong electoral outcome will not be able to be repaired.
June 15, 2023
All Gangs Should Be Designated 'Terror Entities' Under Terrorism Suppression Act 2022
The Prime Minister needs to officially designate the Mongrel Mob and all other known gangs in New Zealand as official ‘terrorist entities’ under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2022.
June 12, 2023
Andrea Vance And Stuff's Blatant Bias Unravelled - Again
The only Party that was not mentioned in Vance's article was New Zealand First - the only new Party that came to parliament under FPP (First Past the Post) in 1993, and under MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) and has decided the government on three occasions, or been within two seats of deciding all but one election since 1993.
June 09, 2023
June 06, 2023
June 02, 2023
June 02, 2023
Shane Jones: World Health Organisation needs reform - not fattening
Covid-19 was a singular test of the World Health Organisation and every country’s preparedness. The initial response showed a lack of preparedness at WHO and in many countries, including New Zealand. Unfortunately, MFAT’s multi-lateral Pharisees are currently reproducing failure by backing treaty negotiations in Geneva where a proposal is to give WHO binding legal powers over countries.
June 01, 2023
New Zealand First Secure 1800 New Frontline Police - Not Labour
New Zealand First Secure 1800 New Frontline Police - Not Labour
May 31, 2023
May 28, 2023
New Zealand First Announces Kaikoura Candidate
New Zealand First is pleased to announce Jamie Arbuckle, Marlborough District Councillor, to stand as a candidate for the Kaikoura electorate at this year’s General Election.
May 28, 2023
New Zealand’s Version of ‘Know Nothingism’
This country has been the victim of political extremists, experimenting without any evidence of practical performance, with the lives of the mass majority of New Zealanders.
May 25, 2023
W.H.O. Director General Seeking Powers To Override Sovereign States
New Zealanders will be highly concerned that the World Health Organisation proposes to effectively take control of independent decision making away from sovereign countries and place control with the Director General.
May 19, 2023
Beyond the Farm Gate Lurks Separatism
Winston Peters New Zealand First Farming Agriculture Federated Farmers
May 12, 2023
Winston Peters - why mess with the magic of the monarchy?
When Chris Hipkins appeared on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he described himself as a “technical republican”. At least it was clearer than when he stumbled over what a woman is. In the blue corner, the other “Chris” said, “New Zealand will become a republic, eventually.” Of course, they both supported changing our New Zealand flag too. But in the 2016 referendum, the people didn’t. Being one of 18 New Zealand Privy Councillors, but the only one leading a political party, one wonders why we’d abandon the monarchy in this new Carolean era (the era of King Charles III). To paraphrase Winston Churchill: “We may have the worst form of constitutional arrangements except for others that have been tried from time to time”. Winston Peters
May 10, 2023
Our preoccupation with Māori theatrics while sacrificing economic realism
May is significant in the New Zealand parliamentary calendar, given the Minister of Finance delivers the Budget - a whopping $128 billion last year, over a third of our GDP. This year Grant Robertson is riding a unicycle on a tightrope. The sugar rush is over but will he still reduce outgoings if it burns off voter support? His challenge is to boost the supply side of our economy, given he has inflated the demand side.
May 09, 2023
May 05, 2023
May 03, 2023
Whaitiri Defection A Blight On Democracy
Meka Whaitiri defecting to the Maori Party five months out from election shows the true state the Labour Party is in. Worse still the Labour leadership had no idea why and still don’t.
April 22, 2023
April 20, 2023
April 20, 2023
April 19, 2023
Young New Zealand First: It's Time To Put Education First Again
Young New Zealand First: It's Time To Put Education First Again
April 17, 2023
Local Government Minister's Dangerous Mistruths In 'Three Waters' Interview
Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty stated his justification for continuing to include co-governance in the ‘Three Waters’ reform, is because “the treaty recognises that Maori have special rights in water in particular…it’s been tested in the courts and found to be New Zealand law" It’s astonishing not only because he stated that mistruth, but because Jack Tame didn’t question him on it’s validity.
April 14, 2023
April 04, 2023
March 27, 2023
March 27, 2023
March 25, 2023
March 24, 2023
March 24, 2023
March 22, 2023
March 06, 2023
Winston Peters on the Auckland Arts Festival and ‘Savage Coloniser’
New Zealand First Leader, Winston Peters joins Sean Plunket on The Platform to discuss the Auckland Arts Festival and ‘Savage Coloniser’ poem.
March 02, 2023
March 02, 2023
Where's The Missing $14 Billion?...
We left office in October with $14 billion left in the Covid fund. We argued in our letter for prudent stewardship of public money in the event of a future shock. So where is that $14 billion contingency fund set up to meet the fiscal demands of a future disaster?
February 28, 2023
Winston Peters: What happened to the $14 billion Covid recovery money?
In June 2020, when still in government, New Zealand First wrote to Minister of Finance Grant Robertson in response to his request for spending proposals, as part of a third tranche of Covid stimulus spending. There was still unallocated $20 billion in what became a $74.1 billion Covid Response and Recovery Fund. We urged the Minister of Finance to keep further spending tightly targeted to meet only the stimulatory demands of the economy, which we asked him to explain. Six billion dollars of further Covid-related spending would be allocated out of the $20 billion. We had no issue with it because that spending focused on income relief payments, extending the wage subsidy, extra PPE, and other Covid-related health needs. It was necessary spending. We left office in October with $14 billion left in the Covid fund. We argued in our letter for prudent stewardship of public money in the event of a future shock.
February 24, 2023
Shane Jones on the Rise in Crime Post-Cyclone
Shane Jones joins Sean Plunket on The Platform to talk about the rise in gang fueled crime in the wake of cyclone Gabrielle. Jones blasts the Government's soft on crime approach and says he is "astounded at the Minister of Justice and the Minster of Police."
February 20, 2023
Army Needed To Restore Law And Order In Hawkes Bay Region
It is appalling that during these tragic circumstances in the Hawkes Bay and elsewhere where people have lost their lives and livelihoods, we are now seeing gangs and feral thugs threatening, robbing, stealing, and looting. The lawlessness cannot be allowed to continue and will only get worse if it is not taken seriously. The Prime Minister needs to approve sending Army personnel to assist police to maintain order - it is a state of emergency and is out of control.
February 17, 2023
Government Must Speak With Insurance Companies Now To Avoid Another Christchurch
The flooding and damage that has been caused by Cyclone Gabrielle is immense and widespread. The government must speak with insurance companies right now about the pathway forward for people to ensure a speedy recovery effort. We must not have another repeat of what happened after the Christchurch earthquake and the insurance delays that happened back then. The time to sort this out is now.
February 10, 2023
Winston Peters calls out ACT's record on Co-Governance
Winston Peters argues that the voters deserve to know the Act Party's history on co-governance, from introducing Maori wards to the Auckland Supercity council, to committing New Zealand to the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights.
February 10, 2023
Winston Peters on The Country (Full Interview - 8th February 2023)
Winston Peters joins The Country and speaks to Jamie Mackay about New Zealand First's success in recent polls and the National and ACT party track record on Co-Governance issues.
February 08, 2023
Shane Jones on Waitangi Day & New Zealand First (The Platform - Full Interview)
Shane Jones joins Sean Plunket on The Platform to discuss Waitangi Day, the future of New Zealand, and New Zealand First's comeback.
December 04, 2022
Winston Peters: 'Cry Havoc and Let Loose the Dogs of Separatism'
All totalitarian dictatorships have one feature – the government is right and cannot be questioned. This is a sad example of just how dictatorial and self-righteous the government have allowed themselves to become. You will recall how so many New Zealanders were mandated out of a job and careers. Just like the couple before the court in Auckland who have the right, in this case, to question and to refuse – and it is a principle worth defending. They already have unvaccinated donors ready to give blood to accompany the heart operation their baby must have. How complicated is this really?
December 02, 2022
Shane Jones - Be wary of hasty judges and patsy politicians
Its decision that 16-year-old tamariki should be voting in parliamentary elections reveals a paucity of reflection and understanding. Recently an amendment to our Bill of Rights statute was made and the Supreme Court can now make declarations as to whether a law is incompatible with this Act. This is a retrograde move that gnaws at the robe of parliamentary sovereignty. Such declarations are not mandatory or binding on legislators. But jurists weighing in on tikanga and voting age while other competent institutions also toil away on these matters shows irrational thinking, or worse. Just as 16-year-olds are often given a Road Code book, a constitutional equivalent should be sent to our judges, stay in your lane. We do not need or want the Americanisation of our judicial system. Perhaps potential judges should be tested in a parliamentary committee so we can weed out those likely to stray beyond their writ. The Prime Minister obviously relishes the prospect of 16-year-olds voting. New standard bearers presumably given her 2020 support base has become a wasteland.
November 27, 2022
'Right v Wrong, Not Left v Right' - Winston Peters New Plymouth Public Meeting (FULL SPEECH)
Speaking to a packed venue in New Plymouth, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters highlights the Government's failure to address issues of concern to everyday kiwis and blasted the 'Left v Right' and "It's my turn" mentality of the two major parties.
November 27, 2022
‘Right v Wrong, Not Left v Right’
New Zealand is at a political, economic, and social inflection and how we respond now has never been so important. This week the Prime Minister said “when it comes to our coalition I will not rewrite history, cos’ actually I was proud of what we did so I am just going to stand by that principle”. The Prime Minister is talking about the Labour New Zealand First Coalition Government of 2017-2020. She was very careful to make that statement because Labour won the 2020 election outright as a result of it. 400,000 National Party voters chose Labour in 2020 because they thought, as Labour claimed, that Labour was responsible for the success of those three years. And ‘there’s the rub’, to quote Shakespeare.
November 20, 2022
'No one gets to lie to me twice' - Winston Peters reveals the party he won't work with
“No one gets to lie to me twice,” he says this week. “We are not going to go with the Labour Party, this present Labour Party crowd, because they can’t be trusted. “You don’t get a second time to lie to me, or my party and they did.” Peters says when he was Deputy Prime Minister in New Zealand First’s coalition with Labour, he was kept in the dark over the commissioning of He Puapua, and what the Three Waters reforms looked like and described it as a “secret agenda”. To double-check whether there was any wriggle room in his position on Labour, he is asked if he is ruling out working with a Jacinda Ardern-led Government. “Most definitely,” he says and he reflects on his previous two stints in government, first with National and with the fifth Labour Government, which he described as trusted relationships.
November 14, 2022
Parliamentary Privilege Defended With Important High-Court Ruling
The Court has not only recognised the important role of freedom of speech in parliament, but has also recalled passages that challenged my personal right to exercise free speech – particularly when in this case I was not even given the opportunity to be heard or to defend myself. When I first raised this matter last year as a breach of privilege with the former Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard, he questioned my right to do so. I advised at that time that if parliamentarians are not there to defend the basic rights and freedoms of New Zealanders, including those of parliamentarians, then what are they there for?
November 11, 2022
Shane Jones - A rerun of St Jacinda and Labouring on with salami politics
“Bring it on,” the Prime Minister hollered at the conclusion of her speech to the Labour Party conference. Her sloganeering drew a spirited response. Not as electrifying as 2017; the comrades know the tide is running against them. Although her speech had predictable references to economic storm clouds, she insisted that our cost of living woes are global in origin. With a grin and a wave, the faithful were told there was nothing to see here. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Our inflation is essentially a homegrown condition and borrowers will suffer. The mortgage belt doesn’t want emojis, it wants to see politicians take responsibility.
November 08, 2022
Winston Peters is adamant Jacinda Ardern will be thrown out of Government in the next election
'I don't think it, I know it.' Former Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, Winston Peters, tells Mark Dolan of GB News he is certain Jacinda Ardern will be thrown out of Government in the next election.
November 02, 2022
Shane Jones - Taken for a ride on a political hell on wheels
The Prime Minister was recently snapped reading a book written by Sir Ranulph Fiennes on Sir Ernest Shackleton. Both are towering figures in exploration and near-death experiences and, I would have thought, required political reading given the quicksilver character of the electoral mood. This paperback has an interesting hype line; “To write about hell, it helps if you have been there.” This is a sentiment sure to resonate with Kiwi retailers as their solvency crumbles with each ram raid aggression. The Government seems powerless or too distracted to arrest this destructive current. Preparing for the annual Labour Party conference, Jacinda Ardern should remind her caucus that the primary role of a government is to uphold and protect the life of its citizens. Can she honestly say that she has delivered on this?
November 02, 2022
NZFIRST: HAMILTON-WEST BYELECTION
New Zealand First has considered the Hamilton-West byelection and the circumstances that have led to it. When Members of Parliament stand at elections they promise the electorate to serve them for the next three years. That promise should be kept except when the circumstances mean that the mandate from the previous election no longer exists – not as an individual self-serving convenience for an MP’s changed career plans. If a Party’s mandate has been removed from a Member of Parliament, that Member is justified in seeking a new mandate in a byelection.
October 30, 2022
Winston Peters: The Country Has Been Cheated on Emissions Policy
Ever since 1882, with the first refrigerated meat exports from New Zealand, towns like Gore together with their hinterlands, have been critical to the wealth and employment of New Zealanders. The population of these settlements went on to construct the most productive farming communities in the world. At their height of success two parents and their children were running farms in this country and outcompeting a landowner with three adult working males in the UK. It was the era of the ‘New Zealand corporate farming family’. Mum, Dad and the kids. Their industry, combined with thousands of farming families around the country, was the key to taking this country to be in the first three in the world. In this hall today are people who remember that time. People who must be wondering - ‘so what went wrong?’
October 27, 2022
Shane Jones - Government is chasing its ideological tail
The Prime Minister is on ice somewhere in Antarctica - a cold and inhospitable environment not unlike the political winds bearing down on her in Godzone. As Waka Kotahi struggles to meet the repair bills, potholes grow larger by the week, an epitome for the failings of this Government: An inability to deliver core services. Community service sentences are wiped out while teenage ram-raids proliferate. Hospital services fail while Te Whatu Ora fiddles with organisational charts. Firms lose trained staff while the head of Te Pūkenga remains disconnected from the limbs. Numeracy and literacy standards plummet while Shakespeare is cancelled.
October 20, 2022
Peters' Action Against 'Speaker' Justified with Ruling
The Wellington High Court has released a ruling stating that Trevor Mallard in his role as Speaker was unreasonable, irrational, and unjustified in trespassing me from parliament. The High Court has highlighted that Mallard's actions amounted to an unjustified limitation on the right to freedom of movement under the Bill of Rights Act 1990.
October 19, 2022
“Enough of Failure” - Winston Peters' 2022 New Zealand First Conference Speech
New Zealand First leader, Winston Peters delivered a rousing speech to a packed room of kiwis who are concerned about the future of New Zealand. Peters blasted Labour for their pursuit of "woke, virtue-signalling madness" and their "separatist agenda" that they are imposing on the country.
October 16, 2022
“Enough of Failure” - Winston Peters' 2022 Conference Speech
Winston Peters delivers speech in Christchurch at New Zealand First conference
October 16, 2022
Young New Zealand First Announces Three New Policy Priorities
This year Young New Zealand First presented the following three policy remits: That New Zealand First investigates the reform of the student loan scheme to require no repayments for the first three years post-completion of study unless the debtor is earning more than the median wage or leaves New Zealand. That New Zealand First considers an inquiry into the effects of digital mediums such as social media platforms and mass media sites on the mental health, development, and education of our young people. New Zealand First ensure Secondary Schools work with youth organizations and the relevant sectors to ensure and require annual administration of the HEEADSSS (Home, Education/Employment, Eating, Activities, Drugs, Sexuality, Suicide/Depression, and Safety) assessment for all students in years 9-13.
October 11, 2022
Shane Jones' "No Holds Barred" Interview on The Country
He's back! The Prince of the Provinces. Matua Shane Jones joins Jamie Mackay on The Country and it's no holds barred as they discuss wrong tree, wrong place, Dr Rod Carr, the Māori caucus, and the desecration of a carving in Kaitaia.
September 29, 2022
"Elitists are no help to ordinary New Zealanders" - Winston Peters (Bolt Report)
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says some people in the business of “elitism” are playing the “guilt game”, which is of no help to the ordinary person in society. “The ordinary European, the ordinary Maori or the ordinary anybody in New Zealand,” he told Sky News host Andrew Bolt. “Because their number one priorities, which are human and necessary, are overlooked for these culture cancellation programs.” Peters says the Labour government is in “serious trouble” and there will be “significant shifts” going forward. “The moral of the story to anybody who is concerned about the shape and character and pathway down which New Zealand is going – is it’s no time to sit on your laurels or sit on your fingers – it’s now or never.”
September 28, 2022
Winston Peters on The Economy, RSE Workers and Putin's Nuclear Threats
New Zealand First leader, Winston Peters joins Jamie Mackay on The Country. Peters discusses whether history is going to repeat itself and whether he is going to be a spanner in the works of a National and Act government in 2023. He also comments on the state of our economy, RSE workers and Putin's nuclear threats.
September 25, 2022
Winston Peters 'Co-Governance and Separatism' (Full Speech)
The Rt Hon Winston Peters hosted a public meeting in Tauranga to discuss issues of concern facing our country. From Three Waters, to Health Reforms, and changing our nation's name - Co-Governance and Separatism threatens our commitment to Democracy and Equal Citizenship.
September 25, 2022
Winston Peters: “Co-governance and Separatism” Speech
Winston Peters makes a speech in Tauranga on Co-Governance and Separatism, Three Waters, Mandates, and Labour's racist policies.
September 23, 2022
Winston Peters Comments on Ukraine and Putin's Recent Comments
Former Foreign Affairs Minister and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joins Jenny-May Clarkson on Breakfast to discuss what New Zealand needs to do to help Ukraine and comments on Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent nuclear comments.
September 16, 2022
The idea of a single unified Indigenous voice is absurd - Winston Peters on 'Alan Jones'
Winston Peters joins Alan Jones and dismisses the idea of a single indigenous voice, pointing to disagreements between iwi groups in New Zealand. Peters blasts 'sickly white liberalism' that virtue signals and enables elitists to line their pockets.
September 16, 2022
Jacinda Ardern’s agenda is a radical and sinister one - Winston Peters on 'Alan Jones'
Winston Peters joins Alan Jones to discuss how Labour are pushing a separatist agenda. "They’ve introduced this very innocent word called co-governance. What it really means is two governments" says Peters
September 16, 2022
Jacinda Ardern is leading New Zealand towards apartheid - Winston Peters on 'Alan Jones'
Winston Peters joins Alan Jones to discuss how Jacinda Ardern is leading New Zealand down a regressive path towards apartheid, towards separatism, and towards asset ownership based on race.
September 15, 2022
Winston Peters Discusses The Legacy of Queen Elizabeth II
Winston Peters joins Jamie Mackay on The Country and pays tribute to a wonderful monarch, saying now is not the time for a discussion on New Zealand becoming a republic. Peters also comments on the Queen's Memorial Public Holiday, mask mandates and why carbon farming is a threat to our economy.
September 12, 2022
Keep Calm and Carry On
The last thing the Queen would expect is for us to have another day off when our economy and businesses are in such a fragile state. The cost of yet another holiday would be over $400million to the economy.
September 09, 2022
Passing of Queen Elizabeth II
It is with deep sadness that we hear of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizibeth II. We join with other nations around the world paying tribute to the Queen for her many years of extraordinary service. Respect for the British monarchy owes so much to the Queen for her tireless service, dignity, diligence, and grace.
September 08, 2022
Winston Peters weighs in on the Avi Yemini case (The Platform - Full Interview)
Winston Peters joins Sean Plunket on The Platform to discuss the Avi Yemini case.
September 06, 2022
Winston Peters calls on Ardern and Govt to engage with Wellington protesters (AM - Full Interview)
On Feburary 23rd 2020 Winston Peters appeared on the AM show to speak about his visit to the Parliament protest. Winston Peters feared there will be "further problems" at the Wellington protest if Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet don't engage with the protesters. The Government's failure to listen was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
September 02, 2022
Shane Jones: Less Climate Change Commission puffery, more economic realism
Our Climate Change Commission has two board vacancies. Nicola Shadbolt, an expert on farming and Judy Lawrence, a decorated climate change researcher have served their first tour of duty. The Government may appoint fresh faces or re-appoint; a relatively innocuous act, given appointments are regularly made. However, the mix of governance talent matters because this body plays a critical role in our zero-carbon journey.
September 02, 2022
Winston Peters On Ruling Out Labour - Interview on The Country
Winston Peters joins Jamie Mackay on The Country on Wednesday 31st August 2022. The New Zealand First leader points the finger at Jacinda's "maniacally malignant policies", saying Labour has ruled itself out of a potential coalition with NZ First.
August 26, 2022
Winston Peters Full 'Democracy Not Co-Governance' Speech
On Sunday 21st August 2022, New Zealand First leader Rt Hon Winston Peters delivered his 'Democracy not Co-Governance' speech at the Warkworth town hall.
August 25, 2022
Mallard's Apology A Victory For New Zealanders
The court action I took against Speaker Trevor Mallard has today resulted in his public apology. This action was taken not for myself, but on behalf of the people of New Zealand to make a stand and fight for our fundamental freedoms, rights, and to protect our democracy. Mr Mallard has admitted to the High Court that his actions were unreasonable and irrational when he trespassed me from Parliament. It was clearly unjustified and a direct attack on every New Zealander’s freedoms which are protected under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.
August 22, 2022
Winston Peters: Co-Governance is not Democracy
Recent political developments in New Zealand are of grave concern to all those who believe in democracy, freedom and the rule of law in our country. We meet here today the beneficiaries of our forebears’ vision 168 years ago (1854) to govern New Zealand with democratic principles. In the broad canvas of history, down through thousands of years, democracy is a most rare form of government. We no longer can take the sound governance of our country for granted. As you know modern New Zealand emerged from colonisation by the British, many centuries after Māori arrived in New Zealand.
August 16, 2022
Shane Jones: Political character shamefully exposed in minor MP shenanigans
A week, as they say, is a long time in politics. Fortunes change drastically and familiar territory can rapidly turn into a bog. This week, we have learned Labour has a highly educated doctor as their MP in Hamilton. Like a virus, he is attacking his own political body from within. Discharging damaging revelations with surprising skill.
August 09, 2022
Winston Peters: Challenge To Willie Jackson To Debate His Co-Governance Diatribe
Yesterday Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson decided to write an opinion piece in the NZHerald that tries to justify the Labour Party’s push for apartheid in our country via co-governance. The fact that Willie loudly announced that New Zealanders now “live in a new democracy” is frankly astonishing.
August 04, 2022
Unelected Ngai Tahu On Environment Canterbury Is A Dismantling Of Democracy
"At a time when many Maori, like many other Kiwis, suffer from a crisis in housing, health, first world education, and decent wages, Labour is busy dismantling New Zealand’s democracy,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “A dangerous precedent has been set with legislation being passed in Parliament which sees the appointment of unelected Ngai Tahu members to Environment Canterbury – unelected with full voting powers."
August 01, 2022
Shane Jones: We need to maximise our trade potential with China
Globalisation was the temper of the time - the borderless world; free movement of capital, people, goods, and services. Covid-related fiascos in too many capitals mean nations will boost production at home. The Ukraine conflict will expedite change. Globalisation may have been deflationary, delinking will show us the other side of the coin.
August 01, 2022
They have gone straight back to their trial by media.
It is said that the “malady of the ignorant is to be ignorant without knowing it”. And so it has emerged in the commentariat of self-appointed experts on the issue of Electoral Law and its requirements in this country. That law of course has been around for decades but one wouldn’t know it by the collage of critical comment ever since the New Zealand First Foundation case was decided in the High Court on July 22nd 2022.
July 28, 2022
Maori Ward Legislation - Removal of Democracy by Stealth
“Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s move to make it mandatory for councils to consider introducing Maori Wards is unconstitutional and depicts a seismic shift in our democracy,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First.
July 27, 2022
LGNZ’S ‘INCLUSIVE CAMPAIGNING GUIDELINES’ MUST BE WITHDRAWN
“Local Government New Zealand has released one of the most out of touch and divisive pieces of social engineering that represents all that is wrong with this current government,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First.
July 22, 2022
Innocent Again
From the moment these spurious allegations were first raised and then perpetuated by many in the media, day after day, and month after month, I maintained that there had been no wrongdoing. Today the High Court confirmed that no crime had been committed and New Zealand First has again been cleared of all charges. We took the SFO to Court before the last election and forced them to admit that no crime had been committed by the New Zealand First Leader, any New Zealand First Minister, Member of Parliament, or Party member. However, the SFO then pursued charges against the New Zealand First Foundation.
July 22, 2022
Shane Jones: Inflation runs amok while MPs chase their tails
We have been gazing, eating and mythologising Matariki. Our European counterparts have been baking under the baleful influence of Sirius, the Dog Star - an ominous name that should give the Government pause for thought given there is an economic stray on the prowl: inflation. Imported and domestic costs are rising. Banks are squeezing borrowers despite profits to make supermarket moguls blush. Our understaffed hospitality sector is running low on resilience. Our tradies are apprehensive that ebbing cashflow, debt and low confidence are harbingers of recession.
July 18, 2022
Andrea Vance on Coalition Negotiations - Fiction Not Fact
The comical absurdity of Vance’s ‘work’ in suggesting that Jacinda Ardern offered me the Deputy Prime Ministership in the 11th hour of negotiations to clinch the deal is something not one National Party MP believes. Why? Because they have a record of Day One in negotiations as we do, and as Labour does, in their case. The Deputy Prime Ministership was decided on Day One of negotiations, as it was in 1996, or in terms of Foreign Affairs, on Day One of the 2002 negotiations with Helen Clark and her team.
July 11, 2022
Shane Jones: Pacific Island Forum - PM Jacinda Ardern needs to put something in kava bowl
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has moved on from Asia, US, EU, Boris Johnson, Australia and is now in Fiji at the Pacific Islands Forum annual meeting. She has to perform with this regional body that covers Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia with clarity and purpose. The international brand show is over. What will she actually deliver on our behalf that is new and not bureaucratic bubble and squeak?
July 08, 2022
Sadness At The Passing Of Shinzo Abe
It is with great sorrow that we have learnt of the passing of the former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. Shinzo Abe was Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister and his presence and influence was critically important to Japan's leadership on the international stage, particularly on issues such as the CPTPPA and the indo-pacific concept. He established very meaningful and warm relationships with many nations and in doing so gave Japan a heightened presence and importance. Our sincere condolences go to his wife Akie, his family, and indeed the entire Japanese nation.
June 30, 2022
Shane Jones: Just where is PM Jacinda Ardern positioning New Zealand?
The economic rise of China over the past 30 years is now being followed by its political and military reach. Ongoing engagement from us with China remains crucial. We are not Canberra, we are not Washington, we need to be focused on our critical interests. No one owes us a living.
June 28, 2022
Winston Peters Issues Judicial Review Proceedings Against Trevor Mallard
Speaker of the House the Rt Honourable Trevor Mallard, issued a trespass warning against Winston Peters on 28 April 2022, which the Speaker then withdrew on 4 May 2022. Asa a result of this outrageous action by the Speaker, Winston Peters has issued a Judicial Review Proceeding against Trevor Mallard. Mr. Peters believes that the Speaker’s actions were unlawful, unreasonable, and irrational and he will seek declarations from the Court to this effect.
June 14, 2022
Mallard Resignation A Cover-Up
“The reason given by the Prime Minister for Speaker Trevor Mallard’s resignation is not the full truth and can be nothing other than an attempted cover-up,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “On the 25th May the Speaker received a letter from my Solicitors concerning his decision to trespass me and hundreds of others during February’s parliamentary protest.” “In that letter, it was made clear that there would be court action taken against Mr Mallard if he did not provide specific explanations, documents, and referenced authority with which he, in a free and democratic society, trespassed hundreds of New Zealand citizens from the Nation’s Parliament.”
June 10, 2022
Frontline Prison Officers Have Lost Trust in Corrections Leadership Amid Rising Assault Numbers
“In a letter sent from the President of the Corrections Association to the Corrections Chief Executive, it is clear that the frontline officers have lost faith and trust in the department’s leadership and ability to keep them safe,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First.
June 09, 2022
Kelvin Davis Must Explain Letter From Corrections Association To Chief Exec.
“A letter which outlines in detail a clear crisis that is unfolding within corrections and the system failing at keeping guards safe has been sent from the union to the department’s chief executive,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “The Minister of Corrections Kelvin Davis must address this letter and explain why things appear to have become so out of control under his watch.”
May 31, 2022
Shane Jones: Waiter, there's a dragon in my Pacific
Our diplomatic profile would improve if we sent more skilled personnel who know how to build or fix things rather than passive cable writers. In short, our role in the Pacific cannot be maintained through formulaic interactions. Kiwis need to see more practical effort and commitment from Minister Mahuta - and fewer facile fairytales.
May 27, 2022
Nanaia Mahuta Must Address Accusations Of Nepotism
“Accusations of nepotism being levelled at a cabinet minister must be addressed,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “Questions have been raised about Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta having close family members appointed to influential and lucrative government contracts and advisory positions dealing directly with her portfolios.” “These questions need to be settled by the Minister for total transparency, integrity of the position, and to give Mahuata the chance to protect the reputation of Maoridom.”
May 27, 2022
Shane Jones: Labour's $1b Budget play for Māori no guarantee of electoral success
What targeted value did the Budget deliver towards addressing Māori development challenges? According to the Māori caucus, the quantum is in excess of $1 billion. Ideally the focus should have been sharply on employment, skills and economic security. However, the chips don't necessarily fall that way.
May 23, 2022
Winston Peters: Address To Otago University NZ Foreign Policy Class
Real leadership has many features but none more than the ability to ask good questions and make quick decisions based on sound principles and well-considered positions, looking beyond the next corner and many after that, and remaining unwavering in the face of temporary adversity. Life was never meant to be easy and nor for that matter is politics, but difficult choices must yet be made based on four fundamentals: - democracy, the rule of law, freedom, and equality for all. For years we’ve heard the phrase in New Zealand of “punching above our weight”.
May 19, 2022
Budget 2022
It's a 'cost of living crisis' not a 'spending on living crisis'. Throwing more and more money at a black-hole for kiwis to spend is akin to the famous saying: "...it's like standing in a bucket and trying to pull yourself up by the handle."
May 13, 2022
Maori Party Is 'The Pot Calling The Kettle White'
“The Māori Party announcing that they are not standing in the Tauranga by-election because it is a ‘safety issue’ due to ‘racism’ is a ridiculous insult to the voters and just plain wrong,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “The Māori Party accusing Tauranga residents as being racist is the ‘pot calling the kettle white’.” “The ignorance of the history of the electorate is palpable.”
May 13, 2022
Shane Jones: Vanilla Budget will offer little to savour or feed economic growth
This year Grant Robertson, despite Covid-response bouquets, will receive brickbats as families struggle with economic hardship and social engineering. Too many firms are grappling with workforce shortages and creeping red tape. Robertson will lecture us about climate change whilst minions run around Auckland puncturing SUV tyres.
May 05, 2022
Mallard's Wrongful Actions Must Be Held To Account
After being contacted by the media, and checking my emails, not the doorstep, I have learnt that the trespass notice issued to me has been withdrawn as at 1:39pm today. It should not have taken the threat of a judicial review for the speaker to come to his senses and an understanding of the law that he wanted to enforce. This whole issue from the start to finish has been an absolute shambles, and has caused a number of people unnecessary anguish and expense.
May 04, 2022
Mallard Must Immediately Face Vote Of No Confidence
It is an outrageous insult that Mallard, in the role of Speaker of the House, would hold this view of myself and my former parliamentary colleagues. This is evidence of how out of control and power drunk he has now become. The speaker must now be subject to a motion of no confidence immediately. Surely a current Member of Parliament can stand up and do their duty and move a motion of no confidence.
May 04, 2022
Peters Announces Judicial Review Action
After carefully considering advice from my lawyers, I have decided to seek a judicial review of the decision made by Trevor Mallard to trespass me from parliament grounds. This is not about whether former Members of Parliament should be treated differently to others who were at the protest – they should not. This is about fairness, freedoms, democracy, and one law for all New Zealanders. It is my intention to seek a precedent on behalf of the hundreds of others who were unreasonably and therefore unlawfully trespassed for peacefully protesting.
May 03, 2022
Mallard's Precinct Decision Loses The Plot
The fact that Mallard has chosen to wilfully ignore the gaping holes in his reasoning, as well as the intent and application of the Parliamentary Services Act 2000 and the Trespass Act 1980, is as remarkable as it is evidence of his arrogance knowing no bounds. There is a difference between those protesters who were legally, peacefully, and rightfully there, with those who we saw, in the end, being violent and displaying clearly criminal behaviour. There is also a difference between those who were on parliamentary grounds taking an active part in the protest - and those who were not.
April 29, 2022
Three Waters Announcement The Sow's Ear Of A Separatist Agenda
“Labour’s Three Waters announcement today is nothing but a ‘faux backdown’ which has only occurred due to massive public backlash and the calculated loss of political capital they would endure,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “It is not a coincidence that this announcement comes just days after the embarrassment of Rotorua District Council dropping the Labour-backed Māori Ward Bill – which clearly they have learnt very little from.”
April 26, 2022
Shane Jones: Political stink in Rotorua a blatant example of the rotten cultural war on Kiwis
The ascendancy of one person one vote is of foundational importance. Given our proud democratic history, it should not be trifled with by wokesters. The Government needs to focus on those issues which bedevil the average business/household such as cost of living, red tape, housing and economic security. R for recession comes after I for inflation in the economic alphabet. Then comes v for voter and w for wallet. Get the drift? It's time to pull the plug on the Labour Party's homegrown culture wars against the bulk of Kiwis.
April 20, 2022
Shane Jones: Doing nothing about the supermarket duopoly is harebrained
As food bills surge and the contents of the grocery basket shrink, it’s clear – doing nothing about the supermarket duopoly is harebrained.
March 31, 2022
Shane Jones: Gang warfare on Kaikohe streets - time to end the soft approach
It is inevitable that lawyers will complain and point to the Bill of Rights. They need to remember rights require people to observe and respect duties. The only obligations organised crime recognises are those to themselves. The Government has to commit to beating down gang offences, treating them as organised crime. No more tokenism and Māori titles such as Operation Tauwhiro, another word for social worker, but misrepresenting run-of-the-mill policing as some far-reaching anti-gang initiative. More of the paddy wagon and less of the de-colonisation bandwagon.
March 25, 2022
Co-Governance Must Be Stopped Now - Not 2026
“The insidious creep of the racist, separatist, secretive co-governance agenda must be stopped now – we simply cannot wait for a referendum in four years’ time,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “The only future for New Zealand is one of unity, one law for all, under one flag. Any dilution or delay of that fundamental democratic foundation will be disastrous for our nation.” “We do not need to have a referendum to tell us we live in a race-based separatist society, any more than we need to check the weather forecast when it’s already raining.”
March 22, 2022
Marsden Point Pipes Being Filled With Concrete - Blatant Economic Treason
“The revelation that the government is allowing the Marsden Point Oil Refinery pipes to be filled with concrete shows an astonishing level of economic ignorance,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “At a time when we have massive shortages of supply, a looming economic crisis, and prices of oil and other essential materials going through the roof, Labour is allowing this kind of short-sighted jingoistic behaviour to occur by a foreign company on kiwi soil.” “The simple fact is New Zealand needs to be open to looking at all options moving into the future that could give us economic flexibility and certainty to achieve a degree of self-sufficiency.” “This removal of any future use of these pipes at Marsden Point is not a part of the decommissioning process – it is a private company being allowed to commit blatant economic treason,” says Mr Peters. “The Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods needs to explain how this can be occurring under her nose at such an important and economically fragile time in our country.”
March 19, 2022
The ‘Kashmir Files’ Censored: Another Attack on the Freedom of New Zealanders
The ‘Kashmir Files’ has been shown in America, Australia, India and many other locations around the world. To date the film has been viewed by over 1.1 billion people. The film is about true and real events surrounding the 1990 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Kashmir and today over 400,000 Kashmir Pandits remain in exile after 32 years. To censor this film is tantamount to censoring information or images from the March 15th atrocities in New Zealand, or for that matter removing from public knowledge all images of the attack on 9/11. Mainstream Muslims have both in this country and around the world readily and rightly denounced all forms of terrorism on the basis that committing violence in the name of Islam is not Muslim. Neither should steps taken against Islamophobia mistakenly lead to the shielding of terrorists in the name of Islam. Terrorism in all its forms, no matter what its source, should be exposed and opposed. This attempt at selective censorship would amount to one further attack on the freedom of New Zealanders and people worldwide.
March 18, 2022
Sadness At The Passing Of A Great New Zealander - Sir Wira Gardiner
“Sir Wira Gardiner was a great New Zealander with a very distinguished record in military, public, and business life.” says the Rt. Hon Winston Peters. "Coming from a very large family and economic hardship he nevertheless distinguished himself in academia and in the many roles he filled in an exemplary public life." "Despite his training he was an extraordinary practical yet visionary personality and trusted across the political divide. In particular, Wira had great plans for Māori youth and his record of achievement when examined closely is an exceptional one. If there are great role models then Sir Wira is certainly one of them." "Our heartfelt condolences go to Hekia, to his family and wider whanau. That said, this is also a time to celebrate a life so meaningfully lived. So many of us will remember and miss him being deeply indebted to an exceptional personality," says Mr Peters. "Any plaudits Sir Wira receives at this time, in his case, are thoroughly deserved."
March 15, 2022
Three Waters: Shane Jones - stop dragging Treaty of Waitangi into policies where it's of dubious value
The Three Waters project is doomed to fail because it is not sustainable in our democracy for a $185 billion public utility programme to be 50 per cent controlled by iwi. These are public assets, not tribal baubles. The current Government can shroud its agenda with artfulness but the result will be the same. Any iwi co-governance legislation it arrogantly forces through Parliament will be undone by a future government. Such a government should be formed on the clear basis that there will never be political privileges such as the iwi co-governance plot.
March 09, 2022
Prime Minister In On The Three Waters He Puapua Deception
The Multi-Party Working Group has not come up with a compromise on the Government’s “Three Waters” reforms. Allowing Councils shares in what they already own is not a concession but a con because share ownership with out control is meaningless and bungled control will be adverse to Council’s share ownership value. Usurping control from Councils remains a massive asset grab. And watering down repugnant policy by the pretence of a regional voice on the four takeover entities does not mean that those in control even have to listen to the regional voice. Further, arguing that these reforms will prevent privatisation is a total red herring designed to dupe ratepayers into thinking their assets are now safe.
March 03, 2022
The Riot Should Have Never Happened
The violence and disorder on parliament grounds yesterday is something that we should never have witnessed in New Zealand – a country we pride ourselves on as being one of the best democracies in the world. The fact of the matter is the terminal rioting we saw was as predicable as it was avoidable. It was equal parts arrogance and inaction that allowed these rioters to take advantage on the national stage. That fateful die was cast by the Prime Minister and every other politician when they refused to engage with the initially peaceful protest on day one – to expect any other outcome after that pact was signed is just plain ignorance. The simple fact is they all got it badly wrong.
February 17, 2022
Covid Modelling Data Must Be Released For Public Scrutiny
“The government’s Covid modelling being used to enforce restrictions on kiwis must be released in its entirety for public scrutiny,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “How can the government ask us to ‘trust the science’ if we aren’t shown what the science is that is being used?” “Transparency is even more important now given the phenomenally inaccurate nature of some of the recent models that had us threatened with fifty thousand cases by Waitangi Day.”
February 14, 2022
Remove Damaging Mandates, Reinstate All Jobs, Let All Kiwis Work
“It’s long since time to remove these unnecessarily damaging mandates and give kiwis back their right to work,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “There needs to be an end to scaremongering and despotic enforcement, and a return of common sense and balance to this debacle that Labour has created.” “Many thousands have unnecessarily lost their jobs, their freedoms, and their way of life.”
February 10, 2022
These Protests Were Avoidable
No one knew what we were dealing with, there was no vaccine, and the frightening predictions meant we had to act swiftly – and we did. Our country responded the safest way we could by locking down with all of us making huge sacrifices in the face of the threat of unconscionable numbers of deaths. We did the right thing, the only thing, we could have done. This is proven by looking at the catastrophic results of inaction seen in some other western countries. Remember, at that time we were the world leaders in ‘stamping out’ COVID and uniquely being free of the virus for nearly eight months.
January 27, 2022
Fast Tracking Residency For 170,000 Migrants - Return Of Failed Policies Of The Nineties
“Instead of wise, focused, and essential immigration, the fast tracking of residency for 170,000 immigrants on working visas is a blatant return to the dangerous unfettered immigration policies of the past thirty years,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “It and will only add to the immense unmanageable infrastructure deficit across the country.” “Controlled and sound immigration is essential to New Zealand’s economic and social future – but mass immigration being used as a mechanism to fill jobs and prop up the economy is as dangerous as it is out of touch.”
December 07, 2021
Iwi Roadblocks Are What's Racist, Not The Criticism Directed At Them
“Kelvin Davis’ comment that any challenging of the Northland iwi roadblocks is just ‘racist’ is as shallow as it is wrong,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “When you set up something that is racist, criticism against it doesn’t make it racist as well.” “There can be no comparison made with farmers and businesses assisting Police as Kelvin has tried to do, because firstly, those industries include Māori anyway. But most importantly, they do not stem from the direction of a single ethnic group.”
November 26, 2021
WDC Conference Centre Decision Scandal
“The Whangarei District Council decision today to reject a $60million offer from Central Government organised last year, through the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), is nothing short of a scandal,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “Those who watched the Council meeting online were witnesses to misinformation and an appalling process of indecision and vacillation.” “Some councillors clearly have no aspirations for the present generation of Whangarei and Northland or for future generations.”
November 24, 2021
Kainga Ora Gang Members: Boot Them Out
“The case of an elderly couple being abused, threatened, and intimidated by feral gang members at a next-door state house this week unfortunately is not an uncommon event,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “The frequency of these types of incidents, where innocent law-abiding kiwis are being intimidated in their own homes and communities is entirely of the current government’s making. Turning a blind eye to crime invited its repetition.” “Gang member numbers, violence, and meth distribution are now only matched by their levels of brazenness. They have been allowed to not only grow but flourish under the protective umbrella of this government’s woke “it’s not your fault” agenda.”
November 22, 2021
Vaccine Choice: Freedom, Liberty, And Personal Responsibilty
“The manner of the slow vaccine rollout will not help our society if the current legal and constitutional overreach ends up removing New Zealander’s freedom of choice,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “All the international evidence and best practice supports the pro-vaccine case but those who are hesitant or anti-vaccination, whether we agree with them or not, have the fundamental right to freedom of choice. And if we take that freedom away then COVID will not be our nation’s biggest concern.”
November 22, 2021
New Iwi Roadblock Law: Debliberate Legislative Separatism
“Legislation passed that allows illegal iwi roadblocks to now become legal is pure legislative separatism,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “Not only does it allow the government to continue their dangerous separatist agenda, it makes a mockery of the policing system in New Zealand.” “The concept of the ‘Public Highway’ is a long standing and inalienable right for all kiwis to have freedom of movement - that right should not and cannot be taken away because of the whim of some vigilante groups who think they know better than everyone else.”
November 11, 2021
Auditor General Finds 'Serious Concerns' With Saliva Testing Procurement
“Todays findings from the Auditor General’s look into saliva testing procurement shows the government has an unhealthy penchant for crony capitalism and protecting their mates,” says Winston Peters leader of New Zealand First. “The Auditor General has today stated his office ‘identified serious concerns’ after investigating the government’s procurement process – substantiating the claims we made earlier this year and the need for an investigation”
November 11, 2021
Grave Disquiet Over Pike River Development
“The news today that two bodies have been found and photographed at Pike River is a development that raises more questions than answers,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “Until the Pike River disaster, over centuries of mining tragedies in New Zealand all but two bodies involved in fatal accidents had been recovered.” “That was one more reason why re-entry into Pike River was always critical for the 29 men as well as their families and loved ones.”
November 03, 2021
Ministerial Covid Statement Must Be Challenged
“Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins has said today that vaccination “efforts to reach Māori early were undermined” – he is right, but he didn’t admit by who,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “The facts are very clear. The government was warned at the very start that the most vulnerable to Covid would be over 65’s, Māori and Pacifica.” “Māori and Pacifica specifically highlighted by the massively disproportionate deaths from the Spanish Flu a century ago when Māori deaths were over 8 times that of Europeans.”
November 02, 2021
Focus On Covid Hospitalisation Rate - Not Community Cases
“The government needs to start using the covid hospitalisation rate and ICU numbers to make decisions and shift from using the increasingly irrelevant ‘community case numbers’,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First. “It is important that we make the right decisions based on the right information for the health of kiwis, their freedoms, their businesses, and their livelihoods.”
October 29, 2021
Light Rail: Another Massive Cost Blowout Blunder
“The government’s latest announcement about its plans for light rail in Auckland is, as New Zealand First said a year ago, a massive cost blowout and ten years of chaos for Auckland,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First.
October 27, 2021
Three Waters: Seperatist Race-Based Power Grab, Breach Of Public Finance Act
“Today’s Three Waters announcement, amidst the controversy of the slow covid vaccine rollout and lockdown restrictions, is a blatant grab for unrestrained and unbridled political power,” says Winston Peters Leader of New Zealand First.