Winston Peters refuses to repeat Bob Carr China remark after defamation threat

Foreign Minister Winston Peters says he stood by his allegation about former Australian Foreign Minister and Aukus critic Bob Carr relating to Carr’s relationship with China.

Carr, who was
formerly Australia’s Foreign Minister, said he believed the comments to be “entirely defamatory” and that he would commence legal action. RNZ has since removed the offending remarks from the online version of Peters’ interview. Peters told the Herald on Thursday he was yet to formally be notified of any legal action against him. Carr recently travelled to New Zealand to speak at a conference on Aukus hosted by the Labour Party.

Outside the debating chamber on Thursday before Question Time, Peters did not repeat or say whether he even stood by the remarks which he first made that morning on RNZ’s Morning Report.

Peters said he would not answer whether he stood by the remarks because he would shortly answer a Parliamentary question on that subject from Labour’s Foreign Affairs spokesman David Parker.

Parker asked Peters whether he stood by his allegations during Question Time, using parliamentary privilege to restate the defamatory language. Peters, also protected by parliamentary privilege, confirmed he still stood by the remarks.

Parker said Peters’ allegations were unprecedented in his career.

“I haven’t seen an accusation against another senior retired politician like that from a New Zealand politician ever… Can you tell me another instance where a Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand has made those sorts of comments against a former minister of a country like Australia,” Parker said.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins called on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to stand Peters down over the remarks. There is currently a tussle over the extent of Luxon’s ability to sack ministers from Act and NZ First. After demoting Melissa Lee and Penny Simmonds, Luxon said that he was the ultimate arbiter of who served in his Cabinet and therefore he could sack ministers as he pleased.

The political reality is that Luxon could not sack ministers from other parties, particularly not the leaders of those parties, without putting his Government under strain.

“He should stand Winston Peters down immediately,” Hipkins said. “These sorts of allegations by a Foreign Affairs Minister are unacceptable. They cannot be left unchallenged. Winston Peters cannot execute his duties as Foreign Affairs Minister while he has this hanging over him.

“[Peters] has stepped well outside his brief. He’s embarrassed the country. He’s created legal risk to the New Zealand Government because he has made these comments as our Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister must do something about that,” he said.

Luxon distanced himself from the remarks. He would not say whether he believed the remarks were defamatory.

“They are not comments I would make. I’m sure Bob Carr, who is a seasoned politician, understands the rough and tumble of politics,” Luxon said, adding Peters had done an “exceptionally good job” as Foreign Minister.

Peters was also critical of former Prime Minister Helen Clark’s opposition to Aukus, arguing that she had not read an intelligence briefing since she left office and therefore had less of an idea about the threat posed by China. Peters served as Clark’s Foreign Minister between 2005 and 2008.

Clark told the Herald those remarks were “ridiculous” and said she believed Peters had defamed Carr.

She said: “Intelligence briefings need to be scrutinised carefully. We could have ended up invading Iraq illegally if we had believed the utterly wrong and misleading US/UK-generated intelligence.”

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.