Forget ‘Nazi Germany’ furore – Winston Peters’ fiscal hole comments really put the boot into National – Audrey Young

OPINION

This is a transcript of Audrey Young’s politics newsletter. To sign up for this newsletter or Thursday’s subscriber-only Premium Politics Briefing, click on your profile at nzherald.co.nz and select ‘Newsletters’. For a step-by-step guide, click here.

Welcome to the Politics Briefing. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has spoken to Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters about his speech on Sunday to his New Zealand First faithful in Palmerston North.

Peters’ references to “Nazi Germany” over a suggestion by a former Te Pāti Māori candidate that Māori had superior genetics was undoubtedly “unhelpful”, as Luxon put it.

But it was by no means the most “unhelpful” part of his speech in terms of the coalition Government. The fact that Peters opened his speech saying there was a $5.6 billion fiscal hole in the Government’s plans must have horrified Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis.

The fact that Peters claimed that his was the only party to have alerted the public before the election to how bad things could get is laughable. The entire election campaign was centred on the economy and the credibility of National’s fiscal plan. It dominated media coverage throughout the campaign.

In making the claims about the fiscal hole, Peters was endorsing the conclusion of Sunday Star Times columnist Vernon Small. (Herald deputy political editor Thomas Coughlan has a fascinating chart in his story below explaining the under and overs in National’s costings and comes to a figure of a $3.3b fiscal hole.)

But whether the original figures were Peters’ or someone else’s, the Deputy Prime Minister was undermining the work of the Finance Minister at a pretty delicate time in the Budget cycle. That is unheard of, especially at a time when coalition relationships are going well. Imagine what Peters would be saying if relations were strained.

One can only assume it was not Peters’ intention to undermine Willis. She has not brought the Budget to the Cabinet yet for sign-off. So technically collective Cabinet responsibility may not apply. But it was nonetheless appalling coalition etiquette by Peters.

Willis has been preparing the country for more bad news tomorrow when the latest GDP figures are released and that will be putting pressure on Budget decisions. Luxon at his post-Cabinet press conference yesterday would not rule out new taxes and, not surprisingly, that was widely reported. He has moved swiftly this morning to rule out new taxes in the Budget but is giving himself wriggle room over the exact nature of them and the timing. “That’s our intention,” he said to questions about meeting coalition promises – which is of course always true at the time it was said.

While Luxon has an aversion to “rule-in, rule-out” types of questions, he has not yet learned when you can avoid such questions and when you must confront them.

Following on from the talk Luxon had with Peters over extreme and divisive language by politicians, Peters said this morning he would say more about it this afternoon. He did not use the term Holocaust or genocide, as some media claimed. He also has Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi in his sights. When challenged last year by Q&A’s Jack Tame about the racist genetics comments (which were removed from the party’s website), Waititi said: “How can it be racist when you’re trying to empower people that are climbing out from the bottom of the bonnet of colonial violence for the last 193 years?”

Dame Kiri gets the royal treatment

Meanwhile, Parliament will today mark the birthday of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa with leaders’ speeches and the Dame looking on. While no one could wish her anything but the healthiest of years in retirement and many happy years of fishing ahead, it seems an unusually low bar. Yes, she belongs to the Order of New Zealand, but she is one of 22 (14 ordinary members and eight additional) and she is only 80.

Quote unquote

“Kiwis deserve better than a Deputy Prime Minister who behaves like a drunk uncle at a wedding” – Labour leader Chris Hipkins after Winston Peters’ speech on Sunday.

“Your ‘drunk uncle’ comment is laughable coming from someone who would get drunk on a wine biscuit” – Winston Peters hits back at Chris Hipkins.

“I will concede right now that Winston Peters’ tolerance for alcohol will be a lot higher than mine. He has had a lot more practice” – Chris Hipkins lobs another one back.

Micro quiz

Foreign Minister Winston Peters hosted China’s foreign minister Wang Yi to sample a particular type of New Zealand alcohol before their dinner last night. Was it Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc, Palliser Eastate pinot noir, Garage Project craft beer or Scapegrace gin? (Answer below.)

Bouquet

Goes to Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for suggesting in the Senate that New Zealand was Australia’s most trusted ally.

Brickbat

Goes to Liberal Senator and former Trade Minister Simon Birmingham, who suggested such a statement deserved an apology – to the United States.

Latest political news and views

Peters controversy: Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has doubled down on his comments likening Te Pāti Māori statements to Nazi Germany.

Kāinga Ora crackdown: The Green Party claims the Government is practising the “politics of punishment” in its decision to come down harder on badly behaved Kāinga Ora tenants.

Tax: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has clarified his remarks about introducing new taxes in the Budget to fund his tax cut plan.

Police pay: The Government is under increasing pressure to provide an acceptable pay offer to police as negotiations stall.

China: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has met with Foreign Minister Winston Peters in Wellington – Wang’s first visit to New Zealand in seven years.

Peters controversy: New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has compared Labour’s use of co-governance to “race-based theory”, as seen in Nazi Germany.

Opinion – transport: David Seymour’s Auckland bike crash has plenty of lessons for Transport Minister Simeon Brown – if only he’d listen, writes Simon Wilson.

Tax: The IRD has published a scathing review of the Government’s proposal to make commercial and industrial property owners pay more tax.

Justice infrastructure: A just-released briefing to Attorney-General Judith Collins paints a bleak picture of the state of judicial resources.

Ardern doco: Dame Jacinda Ardern is distancing herself from a new, part-publicly funded documentary focusing on her leadership amid a backdrop of rising extremism.

Quiz answer: Garage Project craft beer (Peters then tweeted on X that Minister Wang had introduced him to moutai).

Audrey Young is the New Zealand Herald’s senior political correspondent. She was named Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards in 2023, 2020 and 2018.

For more political news and views, listen to On the Tiles, the Herald’s politics podcast.