Is Winston Peters the right man to be Foreign Affairs Minister? - The Front Page

Winston Peters is Minister of Foreign Affairs for the third time in his political career. Photo / Getty

Winston Peters will take the reins as Minister for Foreign Affairs for the third time in his storied political career.

Peters has long had a frosty relationship with the media, as has been evidenced in many of his recent comments.

It would be fair to question whether he has the temperament to manage the Foreign Affairs portfolio. Yet, NZ Herald head of business and long-time columnist Fran O’Sullivan tells The Front Page podcast the Peters we see in New Zealand media clips is different from the one who operates as Minister of Foreign Affairs behind the scenes.

“Compared to the somewhat chaotic and antagonistic approach he takes in New Zealand to domestic politics, he’s a born diplomat,” says O’Sullivan.

This much was evident last time Peters held the role.

“Offshore, particularly in dealing with the United States, he did a number of things. He helped to bring the United States to the Pacific. He pursued a Pacific reset and argued successfully to increase the budget for the Ministry of Affairs and Trade, resulting in an expansion of the ministry’s footprint worldwide.”

In recent years, there have been growing concerns about the expansion of China into the Pacific region. This leaves Peters in quite an awkward position, given China remains such an integral trade partner.

“He doesn’t mention China specifically, but clearly, in the background, there have been concerns at the ministry level and elsewhere about the expansion of China in the Pacific,” says O’Sullivan.

“He has advocated strenuously for the United States to step up again in the region, which it has done. But we’re also seeing a range of other players stepping in. We’re seeing France back in spades. I went to a series of briefings in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in France and Paris recently. What they’re doing is helping the islands when it comes to green tech, mitigating the effects of climate change, putting in solar installations and working with the French and other companies.

“We’re also seeing India starting to move in. The whole concept of the Indo-Pacific is really gaining legs.”

Beyond managing the complex relationships with China and our traditional Western allies, Peters is also entering the role at a time when numerous wars are being waged across the globe.

So, what stance should New Zealand take when it comes to these conflicts? How open should we be about our positions? And is our economy diversifying quickly enough?

Listen to the full episode to hear more from Fran O’Sullivan about Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, and New Zealand’s relationship with the rest of the world.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. It is presented by Damien Venuto, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in business reporting who joined the Herald in 2017.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.