Perspective with Ryan Bridge: Winston's right about one thing in this situation

Author: Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2026, 7:13pm

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Winston Peters has a point - but is making it terribly.

In fact, if you've been following what happened in the House yesterday, it doesn't actually make all that much sense. But the bit the media is focusing on is the part where Winston tells Green Party MP Lawrence Xu-Nan to "go back to your own country".

I don't like it when Winston does this. It gets personal when it shouldn't be. The fact is, Lawrence Xu-Nan is a New Zealander. End of. He's allowed to ask questions in Parliament as an MP. He's allowed to shout across the House during question time like the rest of the mob, unless the Speaker says stop. He has the same rights to speak his mind as anyone else. That's the beauty of a democracy.

Every man and his dog will debate whether this is racism or something else. What it's not is hate speech. Hate speech is what old mate Brian from Destiny Church said the other week, talking about physical violence to groups of people.

Back to Winston - he has now embroiled himself in a fight with the Chinese embassy, having a hissy fit at the Ambassador. This should surprise no one. It's Winston being Winston. The metamorphosis from Minister to campaigner is almost complete. His skin is almost shed. A butterfly is breaking free from its chrysalis!

But Winston is right about one thing. We're lucky to live here and not China.

Opinions, freedom of expression, access to the internet and the right to elect your political leaders are not virtues of their system, but ours. It's an autocracy. The system we hold dear allows Lawrence to ask questions and shout inside our Parliament - but also protects Winston's right to say off-colour comments in return.

Taste is an entirely different question and, on this point, I find Winston off-putting.

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