Foreign Minister Winston Peters says he has “no doubts” Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s rhetoric on the Government’s response to the war in Gaza incited the vandalism of his Auckland home last night.
This morning, police announced a 29-year-old man had been charged with burglary after allegedly using a crowbar to smash a window at Peters’ home in Auckland yesterday.
The New Zealand First leader wasn’t at home at the time of the attack about 5.40pm. But Peters’ partner, Jan Trotman, was inside with a guest and his dog Kobe was hit by shattered glass during the incident.
The man, who handed himself in to police about 8pm yesterday, is due to appear in Auckland District Court on Friday.
Swarbrick says she condemns the incident but maintains outrage over the ongoing death and displacement in Gaza is justified.
The attack has been widely condemned, including by PM Christopher Luxon and Labour’s Chris Hipkins, and comes as Parliament debates whether protests outside politicians’ homes should be legal.
Auckland City district commander Superintendent Sunny Patel acknowledged the “angst and frustration” nearby residents felt at the ongoing disruption caused by protesters.
“Police recognise the right to lawful protest, however, we will not condone protest action where property is damaged.
“Police continue to urge protestors to remain within the bounds of the law, especially in residential areas.”
Speaking on Herald NOW, Peters called the offender “gutless” and said he regretted not being at home when the attack took place.
“I wish I was there with something in my hand when he did it, but you know, that’s the way it is.”
The incident followed significant protest outside Peters’ home last week, which included one woman who livestreamed the protest and reportedly publicised Peters’ address.
The same woman was yesterday standing alongside Swarbrick in a press conference concerning New Zealanders who had been detained by Israel after trying to deliver aid to Gaza.
Peters claimed Swarbrick was “complicit in the extreme” and he had “no doubt” she had incited protest action which had led to the attack on his home.
Peters described Swarbrick as “the new superstar of performative politics”.
Swarbrick, also speaking on Herald NOW this morning, said she hadn’t been aware of the woman’s role in protests outside Peters’ house and hadn’t known she would be at yesterday’s press conference.
“We explicitly condemn that violent attack on Winston Peters’ home,” she said.
“We always have condemned attacks like this, and we always will.”
She rejected any suggestion her criticism of the Government’s position on the Gaza conflict had incited such an attack on Peters’ home.
“This crosses a threshold and goes well beyond people’s right to protest.
“We are asking for this Government at a really basic level to condemn the genocide and to sanction Israel for its war crimes.”
Luxon told reporters at Parliament this morning the attack was “cowardly”. He would not directly link the attack to Swarbrick’s rhetoric, as Peters had done, but called her party “total hypocrites.”
“They come here, they complain about the standard of treatment they get as MPs ... Ricardo Menéndez March [Green Party MP] writes a letter of support for someone who has gone around electorate offices throwing fake blood around the place ...
“And you saw it yesterday with Chlöe Swarbrick ... standing with someone who is actually passing out the address of a minster. You can’t have it both ways, it’s not student politics. We are dealing with the real world.”
Luxon said people were welcome to protest against politicians in appropriate spaces but vandalising someone’s home was unacceptable.
“We signed up for a public life but our neighbours didn’t and our families didn’t.”
Hipkins described the incident as “totally unacceptable”.
“I absolutely condemn what has happened outside Winston Peters’ house. MPs’ homes should be safe places.”
The Labour leader said his party did not support the bill because it had a “number of flaws” and the Government had not taken on the party’s feedback.
“What I am also very cautious about is the Government determining where you can and can’t protest. I think that gets you on to a slippery slope and we’ve got to be very careful in the area.”
Hipkins said there was a difference between passing a law to say someone shouldn’t do something and saying someone shouldn’t do something because it was wrong.
“You can’t legislate for morality. You can’t legislate for people to respect one and other, but you can lead by examples in those areas.”
A bill seeking to ban protests outside politicians’ homes will soon be considered by a Parliament select committee after passing its first reading in August.
The Summary Offences (Demonstrations Near Residential Premises) Amendment Bill was supported by all three coalition parties but was opposed by Labour, the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori.
Hipkins, appearing on Herald NOW, explained his party was “sympathetic” about the issue, noting he, as a former PM, had faced protests.
He said Labour could potentially support legislation addressing such protests but not the bill as it was currently drafted.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the attack on Peters’ house was a “disgraceful episode” and called Hipkins’ rationale for not supporting the bill “weasel words”.
“I don’t think New Zealanders want to see that style of highly aggressive politics that frankly the Greens are pushing in New Zealand.
“[Labour] voted for protests outside people’s houses in this House yet they complain about the same situations. I can’t make head or tail of where they are at.”
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.