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Welcome to the Politics Briefing. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has spokento Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters about his speech on Sunday to his New Zealand First faithful in Palmerston North.
Peters’ references to “Nazi Germany” over a suggestion by a former Te Pāti Māori candidate that Māori had superior genetics was undoubtedly “unhelpful”, as Luxon put it.
But it was by no means the most “unhelpful” part of his speech in terms of the coalition Government. The fact that Peters opened his speech saying there was a $5.6 billion fiscal hole in the Government’s plans must have horrified Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis.
The fact that Peters claimed that his was the only party to have alerted the public before the election to how bad things could get is laughable. The entire election campaign was centred on the economy and the credibility of National’s fiscal plan. It dominated media coverage throughout the campaign.
In making the claims about the fiscal hole, Peters was endorsing the conclusion of Sunday Star Times columnist Vernon Small. (Herald deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan has a fascinating chart in his story below explaining the under and overs in National’s costings and comes to a figure of a $3.3b fiscal hole.)
But whether the original figures were Peters’ or someone else’s, the Deputy Prime Minister was undermining the work of the Finance Minister at a pretty delicate time in the Budget cycle. That is unheard of, especially at a time when coalition relationships are going well. Imagine what Peters would be saying if relations were strained.
One can only assume it was not Peters’ intention to undermine Willis. She has not brought the Budget to the Cabinet yet for sign-off. So technically collective Cabinet responsibility may not apply. But it was nonetheless appalling coalition etiquette by Peters.
Willis has been preparing the country for more bad news tomorrow when the latest GDP figures are released and that will be putting pressure on Budget decisions. Luxon at his post-Cabinet press conference yesterday would not rule out new taxes and, not surprisingly, that was widely reported. He has moved swiftly this morning to rule out new taxes in the Budget but is giving himself wriggle room over the exact nature of them and the timing. “That’s our intention,” he said to questions about meeting coalition promises - which is of course always true at the time it was said.
While Luxon has an aversion to “rule-in, rule-out” types of questions, he has not yet learned when you can avoid such questions and when you must confront them.
Following on from the talk Luxon had with Peters over extreme and divisive language by politicians, Peters said this morning he would say more about it this afternoon. He did not use the term Holocaust or genocide, as some media claimed. He also has Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi in his sights. When challenged last year by Q&A’s Jack Tame about the racist genetics comments (which were removed from the party’s website), Waititi said: “How can it be racist when you’re trying to empower people that are climbing out from the bottom of the bonnet of colonial violence for the last 193 years?”
Dame Kiri gets the royal treatment
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa visits her old school, St Mary's Bay College, in Auckland on March 15. Photo / Alex Burton
Meanwhile, Parliament will today mark the birthday of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa with leaders’ speeches and the Dame looking on. While no one could wish her anything but the healthiest of years in retirement and many happy years of fishing ahead, it seems an unusually low bar. Yes, she belongs to the Order of New Zealand, but she is one of 22 (14 ordinary members and eight additional) and she is only 80.
Quote unquote
“Kiwis deserve better than a Deputy Prime Minister who behaves like a drunk uncle at a wedding.” - Labour leader Chris Hipkins after Winston Peters’ speech on Sunday.
“Your ‘drunk uncle’ comment is laughable coming from someone who would get drunk on a wine biscuit.” - Peters hits back at Hipkins.
“I will concede right now that Winston Peters’ tolerance for alcohol will be a lot higher than mine. He has had a lot more practice.” - Hipkins lobs another one back.
Micro quiz
Foreign Minister Peters hosted China’s foreign minister Wang Yi to sample a particular type of New Zealand alcohol before their dinner last night. Was it Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc, Palliser Eastate pinot noir, Garage Project craft beer or Scapegrace gin? (Answer below.)
Bouquet
Goes to Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for suggesting in the Senate that New Zealand was Australia’s most trusted ally.
Audrey Young is the New Zealand Herald’s senior political correspondent. She was named Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards in 2023, 2020 and 2018.
For more political news and views, listen to On the Tiles, the Herald’s politics podcast.
