Francesca Rudkin: Decades of experience don't excuse Winston's lapse

Author: Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2026, 10:21am

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Winston Peters described Troy Bowker as a "friend". Photo / George Heard

There are about 97 days until we vote in the general election. I hope most of those days are better spent than with this week’s spite and showboating.

Winston Peters has spent decades proving he can bluster his way through most controversies, but his performance in the house has brought his role as Foreign Minister under scrutiny.

Let’s be clear, neither Peters nor the Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan covered themselves in glory in the House this week. Their exchange during a public debate where Peters told Xu-Nan to "go back to your own country" was attention seeking and designed to generate headlines as these days viral clips are valued more in modern politics than persuasive arguments and debate. Xu-Nan interjections about Peter’s vaccine status were provocative but, considering his position, Peter’s response was worse.

If Peters was simply the leader of New Zealand First this week, the temptation would be to shrug, roll your eyes and file the skirmish away under “classic Winston”. Political theatre has always been part of his brand, and he probably calculated the exchange would resonate with his base. Election campaigns reward sharp elbows.

But Peters is also NZ’s Foreign Affairs Minister and spends his time, we would hope, nurturing our relationships with other nations.

When your words prompt a formal diplomatic protest from China and make headlines around the world, they stop being just domestic political theatre. China is New Zealand’s biggest trading parter, and the Foreign Minister’s job is to advance New Zealand’s interests, not create diplomatic fires.

Ministers often survive offensive remarks, but Foreign Ministers should be held to a different standard because every word can have a diplomatic consequence. Peters knows this better than anyone. Decades of experience don’t excuse the lapse, they make it harder to defend.

Christopher Luxon’s response - 5 out of 10. He deserves some credit for calling the comments “outrageous”, “very offensive and completely inappropriate", and racist, but stopped short of imposing any consequences, and expressed confidence in Peters as Foreign Minister.

So, strong diagnosis, weak prescription from the Prime Minister. As you would expect the opposition has called for Peter’s sacking, a position backed by former leaders Helen Clark and Don Brash.

Everyone is using this spat as a means to campaign. Luxon’s told a public meeting on Friday that the answer was "pretty simple." "Party vote National," he said.

With three months until the election we can unfortunately expect more provocation, more culture war politics and more headline chasing.

This may energise parts of New Zealand First’s base, but it risks alienating other voters who are sick of the drama and desperately looking for rational, thoughtful conversations about issues and what matters.

There is a reason the Opportunity Party is doing well in the polls. It’s not necessarily about their policies - the party also appeals to people who are fed up with the status quo and the same politicians playing the same tiresome games.

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