Acting PM Winston Peters has called Greens co-leader Marama Davidson a “bigoted, leftie shill” during Question Time today.
It came after Davidson began her questioning, asking Peters whether he stood by all his statements and actions.
Peters responded by saying statements were made with evidence but when evidence changed, those statements and actions changed instead of holding fast to them, like a “bigoted, leftie shill”.
Peters is facing questions from three different party leaders today as he fills in for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon during Question Time in the House.
The Deputy Prime Minister would hold the acting PM role with Luxon in Australia today for his daughter’s graduation. In Luxon’s absence, Peters will take the questions intended for the Prime Minister during Question Time.
Davidson went on to question Peters on the new Government’s intention to repeal the ban on oil and gas exploration.
Peters explained the issue of continuing exploration was a matter being discussed currently at the COP28 climate change conference, while also criticising the previous government’s level of imported coal from Indonesia.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins then asked Davidson’s same initial question, causing Peters to pause before rising from his seat.
Hipkins and finance spokesman Grant Robertson launched on the opportunity, calling across to Peters, “that’s you”, prompting laughter across the House.
Peters was quick in his retort, saying his pause was in his confusion why the former Prime Minister would ask the same question. “Ditto,” was Peters’ official response.
Hipkins then went on a mission to provide numerous examples of how historical statements from Peters and NZ First MPs conflicted with what the current Government was doing.
One of those examples was a previous comment from NZ First MP Shane Jones, who had once said the Reserve Bank’s dual mandate - set to be repealed by the Government - was “best practice”.
Jones, sitting next to Peters, could be seen laughing as his quote was read.
Peters noted those watching Question Time would enjoy it, because there had been “so many wise words” retold.
He then attempted to answer and started by saying, “We have to move on,” before he was cut off by Robertson who immediately called out, “You’re out Shane, you’re gone”, again to much laughter.
Peters persisted by saying the Reserve Bank needed to solely focus on lowering inflation which had been grown through the previous government’s spending, he alleged.
Hipkins ended his line of questioning by teasing Peters with a previous quote from Act leader and coalition partner David Seymour, who once said Peters could not be trusted and that Peters was “just a muppet”, prompting a small chuckle from Seymour.
“Even as the good book says, nobody’s beyond redemption,” Peters shot back to the amusement of the House.
Robertson had a turn, testing Peters on the current minimum wage level.
Before answering, Peters looked to his right towards Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Leader of the House Chris Bishop and it appeared the pair informed Peters of the correct figure, $22.70.
Amid jeers from the Opposition, Peters declared: “I didn’t ask him, I was telling him,” provoking plenty of laughter.
“Over here we consult before we open our mouths,” Peters said with a smile.
What followed was a lengthy discussion in the House over asking questions in te reo Māori after Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi quizzed Peters.
After Waititi had concluded a question in te reo, Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee ruled Peters could answer if he wanted to.
Ngarewa-Packer, Davidson and Labour’s Kieran McAnulty raised concern it set a precedent that questions in te reo wouldn’t have to be answered.
Brownlee rejected that was the case but agreed to review the matter.
Waititi was then allowed to repeat his questions in te reo. Jones, sitting next to Peters, whispered the translations in English before Peters answered in English.
The questions appeared to concern the rising cost of living for Māori, including the rise of the cost of fuel.
Peters said the Government was focused on uplifting the economy before criticising the former Labour Government for allowing the Marsden Point Oil Refinery in Northland to be disestablished.
Peters, also the leader of New Zealand First, was most recently acting Prime Minister under the Dame Jacinda Ardern Government.
It comes as National and Act are stamping their mark on a new era in employment relations with commitments in the next two weeks to reverse two of Labour’s biggest moves in that space during its six years in office.
On Monday, Cabinet confirmed it would repeal the Fair Pay Agreements and extend 90-day work trials to include all businesses before Christmas.
Fair Pay Agreements, which made it easier for workers to band together to negotiate wages and working conditions, were introduced by the Labour-majority Government just over a year ago.
National and Act opposed it, saying it was “compulsory unionism” that harmed productivity.
Meanwhile, 90-day trials for businesses were first introduced under John Key’s National-led Government for businesses with fewer than 20 employees before it was extended to all businesses in 2010, a move then opposed vehemently and described by union leaders as the “biggest labour shake-up in 20 years”.
Labour in 2018 restored the trials to businesses with under 20 employees, among other measures, but now the new Government has vowed to return it to the original legislation.
National and Act both strongly opposed the Labour moves during its time in Government and the policies were included in their coalition agreement. The policies are not mentioned in National’s agreement with NZ First.
The House was expected to go into urgency this evening, meaning legislation could be passed much quicker than normal.
Among those on the list would be reversing Labour’s 2018 move to make the Reserve Bank focus on reducing unemployment, leaving the country’s central bank to its sole mandate of controlling inflation.
In the New Year, advice would be taken on whether the Reserve Bank should have a more specific deadline on when it was required to return inflation to between the 1-3 per cent target band, Luxon said.
Initial construction work on the next section is set to begin by the end of next year.