The deputy PM has backed down after a three-day row with the Greens, but only after the Mexican Embassy got pulled in. Stewart Sowman-Lund explains in today’s edition of The Bulletin.
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Mexican Embassy prompts Peters back down
Winston Peters has backed down – via a spokesperson – after comments he and his deputy leader made about Green MPs were labelled “racist”. It all started in the debating chamber on Tuesday, explained RNZ’s Anneke Smith, when Peters responded to heckles by a pair of Green MPs and demanded they “show some gratitude” for being in New Zealand. The two MPs, Lawrence Xu-Nan and Francisco Hernandez, are migrants. During the same session in the House, Shane Jones was heard yelling “send the Mexicans home”, seemingly addressed at Mexican-born Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March, who called the remark “outwardly racist and xenophobic”. In the days since, both Peters and Jones have been unrepentant. Now, it’s prompted the Mexican Embassy to wade in.
The duality of Winston Peters
The Herald’s Jamie Ensor reported yesterday afternoon that the Mexican Embassy was “following up on this matter through diplomatic channels”. It prompted a diplomatic response from the deputy prime minister, who said via a spokesperson that he was aware of the concerns and would be seeing the Mexican ambassador at Waitangi next week. “In the heat of the moment in the robust environment of Parliament, sometimes some members say things when provoked that, on reflection, may have been expressed differently.” Ensor’s report was published at about 4pm, just a few hours after Peters had expressed a wholly different perspective on the matter on social media and in person to reporters. “The Green Party need to stop the pearl clutching and the faux outrage when confronted with the truth,” Peters said in a tweet yesterday morning. Speaking to reporters, he added: “If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen.”
Jones, reported Stuff’s Glenn McConnell, hasn’t yet apologised. Instead, he doubled (tripled?) down, claiming a Green MP “supports terrorism” and was a “communist”.
PM can’t catch a break
The furore has been bubbling away now for three days, proving an unwelcome headache for the prime minister in a week he has already been struggling for cut through. The Herald’s Audrey Young, in her weekly subscriber newsletter (paywalled), suggested it was all part of Winston Peters’ reelection plan for 2026. “If it sounds like Peters is out of control, think again. It appears to be a deliberate strategy in a two-year election campaign,” she wrote. On ThreeNews, Jenna Lynch suggested New Zealand First was “gearing up for a full-blown culture war with the Greens” to stir up its voter base. That will also be on the environmental front, said Lynch, with Jones poised to make a mining announcement today.
Christopher Luxon was finally forced to address the comments while speaking to media yesterday, RNZ reported, pulling out the classic line that they weren’t “remarks I’d make myself”. And, in what has become rather common with the prime minister, he said he hadn’t actually seen the remarks himself. At that point, Luxon said he hadn’t spoken with either Peters or Jones and instead made general comment about rhetoric across the House. “Across the parties there’s been MPs from lots of parties making comments I think that aren’t appropriate or helpful.” This is part of a recurring track record with the PM and exposes the difficulty of leading a three-headed coalition, as Newsroom’s Laura Walters wrote last year. It’s a lot harder for the PM to wade into issues regarding New Zealand First or Act than it is to take action against something involving a National MP. The starkest exception to that is when Luxon publicly reprimanded both David Seymour and Shane Jones for “ill-considered” comments they made about the Waitangi Tribunal last April.
Luxon urged to take a stand
Opposition MPs have been calling for further action all week, and certainly won’t be satisfied with Peters getting off for issuing a statement via a spokesperson. Ricardo Menéndez March, reported RNZ’s Rayssa Almeida, said Peters’ change in tone after the Mexican Embassy got involved showed a failure by the prime minister to take a stand. Te Pāti Māori, which this week faced an accusation from Act of being “race fanatics”, has called for Peters to step down. “New Zealand relies on migrants,” said party co-leader Rawiri Waititi. “Migrant doctors, migrant nurses, many of our Pacific whānau who come over here and work on our orchards, and many of those things. We’ve got to be able to ensure that Aotearoa’s a safe place.”