“A disgusting coward has gone to my home and smashed a window. Glass was shattered all over our dog. He also left a sign on the front door.
“I wasn’t home. But my partner and guest were. This is truly gutless.”
The Herald understands the attack was carried out with a crowbar.
Peters said it was the “type of violent hate-filled behaviour we warned about in the past few days about the radical left”, although at this stage it’s unclear who is responsible.
A window at Winston Peters' home has been shattered. Photo / Supplied
“When we have protesters, political bloggers, and MPs alike encouraging this behaviour, posting politicians’ home addresses online, and acting with pure ignorance and extremism, this is the result.”
Peters said New Zealanders needed to be “deeply concerned” about where the country was going.
Police told the Herald they were called about 5.40pm to St Mary’s Bay after a report of wilful damage.
“The offender had left the scene, and was not immediately able to be located. Inquiries are ongoing,” a spokesperson said.
The attack has been condemned by Labour leader Chris Hipkins, who called it “totally unacceptable”.
“MPs homes are not the place to protest. No matter the cause, political violence is never ok and should be condemned,” he posted to X.
“Free speech is healthy in a democracy, political violence is not.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also weighed in, calling it a “disgrace”.
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the vandalism this evening at the home of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters,” he wrote.
“Nothing justifies someone in public life having their home targeted and their family intimidated.”
Last week, in response to protests outside his home, Peters said New Zealand had one of the most tolerant democracies in the world, and people had every right to express their views.
“But with that comes the responsibility to be a decent person and respect the places and times when you can exercise those rights,” he said on X.
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