About 200 protesters massed at Dunedin’s port to confront Winston Peters over his refusal to recognise a Palestine state – but the Foreign Minister slipped in unseen.
Peters and Shane Jones were in Dunedin to open Port Otago’s $13.5 million rail siding, a key step in the fast-tracked Southern Link inland port project near Mosgiel.
Demonstrators gathering outside the port called Peters’ position “a moral failure” and demanded New Zealand align with countries such as Australia, Britain and Canada, which have formally recognised Palestine in recent months.
Protesters waved Palestinian flags and chanted “Shame on you” and “Free Palestine”, as well as playing sirens and music while Peters addressed port workers.
The protest echoed other actions across the country, including outside Peters’ Auckland home, where supporters of New Zealanders detained on the Global Sumud Flotilla rallied in solidarity.
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) spokesperson Rinad Tamimi Tamimi said she held little hope Peters would change course.
“This Government is spineless and gutless, so we don’t expect more from him, but we want to show our anger and frustration at the recent events.”
Born in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tamimi said Peters’ UN statement last Saturday was deeply personal.
“It was basically saying that half of me as a Kiwi is recognised, but half of me as a Palestinian doesn’t exist – that there’s no culture, there’s no people, there’s no history.”
Tamimi said New Zealand’s official stance undermined prospects for peace.
“They’re recognising one state, but they’re not recognising the other state. So how will they achieve peace if they’re not even recognising the other state as normal humans and people?”
She said the ongoing conflict weighs heavily on Palestinian New Zealanders.
“We protest, we do things, but it’s still going on in the background and people are losing their lives as we speak.”
International Socialist Organisation member Oscar Bartle said the group had been tipped off to Peters’ presence by port workers.
He criticised the minister’s stance as placing New Zealand behind its close allies.
“He recently refused to do the bare minimum... It’s really shameful that he hasn’t.”
Protesters attempted to interrupt Peters’ speech as they climbed ladders overlooking the event.
“We aren’t willing to let Winston Peters go about business as usual while he fails to uphold his obligations on the international stage, to do all within his power to prevent genocide,” Bartle said.
He accused Peters of misrepresenting the country. “He has made people ashamed to be from Aotearoa by going on the stage and misrepresenting us like that.”
Bartle said a lot of protesters had taken time away from work to be there and the group vowed further action.
“We know we can’t appeal to his better nature, so we’re going to disrupt business as usual wherever he goes until he does what’s right.”
Speaking to port workers, Peters referred to the protesters, who were obscured from view by train carriages, as “dumb and dumber” and suggested they were unemployed.
“They wouldn’t know anyone from the Middle East, they wouldn’t know anything about the Palestinian Authority.”
Speaking to media, Peters brushed off the protesters as “a bunch of budgies outside shouting out and trying to interrupt the results of good work in this country”.
He defended the Government’s stance on Palestine after criticism for refusing recognition at the UN last week.
“The United Nations is calling out for leadership and influence to take place. That is taking place. We’ve got a bit of a chance here, a serious chance, and the Arabic countries are seriously coming in behind the plan.”
He said the Government was focused on supporting diplomatic efforts.
“It literally will take a long time, but it gives us hope. Let’s see if we can give peace a chance in this case.”
On three New Zealanders detained by Israeli authorities after joining the Gaza aid flotilla, Peters said they had acted against advice.
“We told them not to go. They’re not being abducted, they’ve not been kidnapped, they’ll be put on a plane and sent home.”
He dismissed the protest action as symbolic.
“This sort of gesture-type politics is really rather sad when you look at the crisis that we’re trying to get on top of.”
At the UN General Assembly last week, Peters said recognition of a Palestinian state was premature while war continues in Gaza and Hamas remains the governing authority.
“With the conflict raging and no clarity on the next steps, recognition now may complicate rather than advance a ceasefire,” he told delegates.
The Government has maintained that recognition is a matter of “when, not if”, but insists it should come only when the prospects for a two-state solution are realistic.
Peters also announced a further $10m in humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Opposition parties have blasted the Government’s stance.
Labour described it as an “embarrassment on the world stage”, while the Green Party accused Peters of “cowardice”, saying recognition is one of the few levers New Zealand has to signal its opposition to human rights abuses.
Protest organisers in Dunedin said Peters’ comments ignored widespread public sympathy for Palestinians.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon defended Peters’ position, saying recognition should not be reduced to “a symbolic gesture” while conditions on the ground remain unstable.
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.