Winston Peters says Government’s health and safety reforms will be 'dead on arrival'

Author: Julia Gabel,
Publish Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2026, 3:10pm

Foreign Affairs Minister and NZ First leader Winston Peters speaking to media after a select committee hearing at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is vowing to scrap the Government’s major health and safety reforms, saying the legislation which is expected to have its final reading before the election will be “dead on arrival”.

But the Act minister behind the bill, Brooke van Velden, says Peters’ discontent comes “too late” and accused him of “politicking”.

Peters addressed a crowd outside Parliament who were protesting against the reforms, with family members of people who died in Pike River among them.

Peters told the crowd that if New Zealand First were “given the chance at the 2026 election, we’re going to make getting rid of this legislation a priority”.

Van Velden’s bill proposes a radical shake up of health and safety law, which the Government says will increase certainty, reduce compliance costs and help businesses understand their responsibilities to protect their workers.

Act leader David Seymour, National leader and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and NZ First leader Winston Peters on their way to sign their coalition agreement in 2023. Photo / Mark Mitchell

But the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, which organised today’s protests, says the legislation will wind back workplace protections that were introduced after the 2010 Pike River disaster, which killed 29 men.

Peters told the crowd van Velden’s bill would not last.

“I can’t logistically do it now, but I have come down the front here, I could’ve stayed in my office, but I’m going to come down and tell you ... next time though, give me a few more men and women to do the job,” Peters said, in reference to the number of votes given to New Zealand First at the election.

Act Party deputy leader Brooke van Velden surrounded by her party colleagues. Photo / Mark Mitchell

He said there were “far too many people” in Parliament that did not “understand what a working day is, or what a working man and woman are, and you can tell by the way they talk and the way they act.

“They’ve forgotten, for example, that it is the workforce of the country that in the end, keeps the country alive, and that no matter what the industry, they critically need the workers of this country.”

Van Velden said no specific concerns that would require an amendment had been raised by New Zealand First in a previous meeting.

“It is not the case, at the 11th hour, having been silent for over a month, that you can say that that was good faith coming from the other side.

“I think it is politicking ... Winston, if he actually has concerns, should spell out specifically what it is, and up until this point I have heard nothing about that.”

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.