NZ First leader Winston Peters has kept mostly out of the public eye since the election, but is giving his keynote address to the party AGM today. Photo / Dean Purcell
NZ First leader Winston Peters has kept mostly out of the public eye since the election, but is giving his keynote address to the party AGM today. Photo / Dean Purcell
A review of the election defeat and how to arise from the ashes as it did in 2011 is being discussed at New Zealand First's annual general meeting in Auckland this weekend.
But the bigger question - which may not be answered this weekend - is whether party leader WinstonPeters will front the 2023 election campaign, and if not, who would win in the ensuing leadership tussle between Shane Jones and Fletcher Tabuteau.
Peters' keynote speech today to the party members will be his first major public appearance since the party won 2.6 per cent of the vote last year, well short of the 5 per cent needed to enter Parliament without winning an electorate seat.
In the aftermath, Tracey Martin quit the party, saying she had been surprised by some of its election policies, and the party had become much more executive-led than membership-led.
Former MP Jenny Marcroft also quit, having been shunted down the party's 2020 list. She then joined the Labour Party.
Covid-19 restrictions prevented Winston Peters from using the type of town hall-style meetings that he revels in for much of the election campaign.
Asked on Friday about the AGM and his speech today, Peters was characteristically coy on what might be discussed, the state of the party, and how he felt about contesting the 2023 election, when he will be 78 years old.
"You'll have to turn up and find out," he said, adding he was yet to write his speech.
He said he was "very well" and keeping busy, though wouldn't divulge what was keeping him busy.
On the agenda for the weekend is the party's review into its failed election campaign, while another review into wider constitutional issues will also be considered.
The campaign strategy has been questioned. It saw Peters tear into governing partner the Labour Party at times, while at other times he tried to be positive and highlight what the Coalition Government had achieved.
When the Covid-19 restrictions were in place, Peters was also prevented from holding the type of town hall-style meetings that he revels in.
The campaign was then rocked by Serious Fraud Office charges that were laid against the New Zealand First Foundation.
Those charges are still in court and are one of the "hurdles" that former MP and minister Ron Mark alludes to when asked about the ability of the party to return to Parliament.
But he told the Herald there was plenty of centrist, nationalist space in the electoral marketplace for NZ First to rise again in 2023.
"I think their prospects are very good. There are some important things about national sovereignty, identity, our foreign policy, which we are certainly entitled to set on the basis of what's best for our own people," he said.
"As time goes on, people might start to become more aware of the things that New Zealand First was doing - the PGF projects that were kicked off and funded, the defence procurements hitting the ground.
"It'll be on the party and the new candidates to convince the public that they're worse off for not having New Zealand First."
NZ First leader Winston Peters, flanked here by Shane Jones (left) and deputy leader Fletcher Tabuteau, who are both tipped as potential party leaders in the post-Peters era. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Mark didn't want to comment on whether Peters should lead the charge in the party's 2023 election campaign - but he said the former Deputy Prime Minister still had plenty to offer.
"There are a few people younger than him in Parliament who shouldn't be there. Winston will do what Winston will do, whether it's a year or whether it's not, whether it's Shane, whether it's Fletcher Tabuteau. Who knows?
"I don't know. But I know you never count Winston out."
Mark, a former party deputy leader, said he will not renew his membership nor be at the AGM.
"I'm not with the party. I really I need to finish it. I'm done, I won't be going back to Parliament."
Jones and Tabuteau are attending, but Jones declined to comment on any leadership ambitions, while Tabuteau wouldn't even confirm whether the party's future prospects would be discussed.
It was put to him that the only way they wouldn't be discussed is if the party was about to dissolve. Asked if that was happening, he said, laughing, "let me remain mysterious" before adding that the party was not, in fact, about to dissolve.
Asked if he had ambitions to lead the party whenever Peters decided to step aside, Tabuteau remained mysterious: "I have no ambition to discuss that."
