‘You are a war criminal’: Winston Peters accosted by protesters at Parliament

Author: Thomas Coughlan,
Publish Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2026, 2:47pm

Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ appearance before Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee was disrupted by protest this afternoon.

Peters was appearing during scrutiny week, when MPs on the committee scrutinise the executive with a particular focus on the Budget.

When Labour’s Damien O’Connor asked Peters about the Government’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza, a member of the public who had been watching the meeting got to his feet and began accosting Peters.

Several protesters made remarks during the demonstration.

“Are we going to sanction Israel or are we going to investigate Israel for the people that were on the flotilla that were brutally beaten and tortured?” said the first protester, referring to the protest group Global Sumud Flotilla that recently attempted to sail to Gaza.

Peters, after listening to the protester, turned around in his chair and replied: “Just answer this question, when those people got off the boat and they were treated by their own people, none of them were judged to be brutalised – how come they were brutalised when they came in front of you?”

The protester was escorted from the committee by Parliamentary security.

Another protester, who was also escorted away, described Peters as a “participant of war”.

“You are a war criminal – you know that. I hope you don’t sleep at night,” she said.

She called Peters an “a***hole” as she left the room.

“How did that happen?” Peters said to the committee as it resumed after the disruption.