Winston vs Chlöe: An ugly attack turns into ugly politics - Adam Pearse

THE FACTS

• A window at Winston Peters’ house in Auckland was smashed last night.
• A 29-year-old man has been charged with burglary and will appear in the Auckland District Court on Friday.
• A bill is currently before Parliament proposing to ban disruptive protests.

Many wouldn’t have expected to see politicians returning to Parliament to come with so many questions about the welfare of Winston Peters’ dog.

Kobe, Peters’ black Labrador, had shards of glass rain down upon him yesterday evening after a window in Peters’ street-facing Auckland property was smashed by someone allegedly wielding a crowbar.

A 29-year-old man will face a burglary charge in the Auckland District Court on Friday.

Defence Minister Judith Collins was among those concerned for Kobe’s welfare, saying she “had a chat to him this morning” (she clarified she meant Peters not Kobe) and confirmed the canine had recovered.

It was clearly front of mind for Peters as he gave his response when confronted by journalists on his way to the House this afternoon.

“Well, it’s an appalling event. Very sorry for the dog and everybody else involved.”

Peters’ partner, Jan Trotman, and her friend, who were at home at the time, might be feeling a bit put-out by the apparent pecking order.

Regardless, the incident was rightly condemned from all corners; politicians know just how taxing protests at their homes can be on their families and neighbours.

Peters’ experience, likely among those who suffer the most from such protests, will be a strong motivation behind the Government’s bill seeking to ban disruptive protests, which passed its first reading in August.

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says his dog, Kobe, was caught up in the incident. Photo / Mark Mitchell

But a debate over the bill’s merits - and why the Opposition opposes it - very much played second fiddle to the blame game aired in the media and the House.

Peters, in his initial social media post that has had more than 1.1 million views, jumped to blame the Greens in light of co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick standing at a press conference yesterday alongside protester Acacia O’Connor, who revealed Peters’ address’s street name in a livestream during a protest last week.

Swarbrick argued the press conference was only facilitated by the party for the families of the three Kiwis soon to be deported from Israel after trying to enter Gaza, and, as such, didn’t know who would be attending.

But as Swarbrick admits with hindsight, the party should have known. O’Connor featured widely across social media during and after last week’s protest.

While criticising O’Connor for sharing Peters’ address, Swarbrick didn’t shy away from pointing to former MP Benjamin Doyle’s exit from Parliament and the death threats they fielded amid Peters’ outrage over Instagram posts.

Both Swarbrick and Peters deny they had anything to do with the violence caused. While they might not have sent a threat or swung a crowbar, the pair inflamed both situations simply by association.

Those who tuned into the House today, hoping for a meaningful debate about the Government’s decision not to recognise Palestine on the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attack, will likely feel disappointed by how the Foreign Minister’s ministerial statement was diluted by last night’s incident.

In his statement, Peters spoke of “extremists, including those in this House” - hardly an appropriate term – while in the same breath condemning the slaughter of 1200 people, 251 being taken hostage and the deaths of tens of thousands who have perished in the ensuing conflict.

The emotion of the attack on Peters’ home weaponised the Government’s protest bill into a stick with which to belt the Opposition. Still, there remains potential for bipartisan agreement, given Labour and the Greens indicate there are sections they do like.

NZ First leader Winston Peters and his dog, Kobe. Photo / X

But although Peters condemned the attack on his house as a “disgrace”, he was quite happy to taunt Swarbrick as “crowbar Chlöe”. Shane Jones, vocal even by his standards in defence of his leader, freely bellowed: “Where’s the crowbar?”

Either it’s a serious attack that threatened a politician’s family and crossed a line, or it’s something to tease your political opponent with. It shouldn’t be both.

Swarbrick didn’t see the funny side; a sombre face as she sat in the House showing the toll the “media vortex”, as she described it, had taken.

Others were more upbeat. Even as Jones was flinging insults across the aisle, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer just sat back and laughed: “I know you missed me in recess.”

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.