Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says Cabinet remains united, dismissing speculation of tensions with his deputy and coalition partner over trade messaging as a “media beat-up”.
The leaders have clashed recently over New Zealand’s approach to the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs with Winston Peters criticising the use of “military language” in trade discussions.
Speaking to Mike Hosking on Monday morning, Luxon said that tensions with Peters over trade speak were “a real media beat up”.
”Winston and I are actually saying the same thing - that we’ve been cool, calm, and collected in our response.“
He said he believed Peters was referring to the broader global reaction, and not Luxon personally.
“Again, the media has beat this up.
“Cabinet’s had a good, calm conversation about this from the start. Stay cool, work through it maturely and reasonably. Winston, Nicola, Todd McClay, Judith Collins, and I, we’re all being consistent. Keep it constructive and positive with the US. Advance bilateral relationships where we can. That’s the work I’ve been doing for the past 16 months.”
In a speech at the East-West Centre in Hawaii, Peters condemned the rhetoric surrounding international trade, specifically the tendency to frame the situation in terms of a “trade war” and the need to “fight” or form alliances against certain countries.
Peters said that such language could be “hysterical and short-sighted”.
“This, coupled with the hyperactive social media age we live in, can generate an urge to react too quickly and too stridently.
“In recent weeks, the tendency to hype up a debate about how international trade works into a black-and-white, polarising issue has been unfortunate and misguided.
“The use of military language – of a ‘trade war’, of the need to ‘fight’, of the imperative to form alliances in order to oppose the actions of one country – has at times come across as hysterical and short-sighted.”
Luxon, and other world leaders, have consistently used the term “trade war” in reference to the fallout from Trump’s tariff policies, and warned of significant consequences New Zealand would face if such a war were to unfold.
In a speech on Thursday, Luxon concluded by stating free trade was “worth fighting for – and I’m up for that fight”.
Luxon also spent the end of last week discussing international trade with several world leaders, including Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr, Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
In Luxon’s conversation with von der Leyen, the pair discussed the prospects for closer co-operation between the European Union and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), of which New Zealand was a member.
Peters, in his speech, cautioned against actions intended to “pick sides” or “form teams” amid an evolving trade landscape, advocating to “wait for the dust to settle before making choices we may later regret”.
He ended his address by promising he would “promote careful, pragmatic, quiet dialogue – aimed at de-escalation and practical problem-solving, rather than premature posturing”.