During his state of nation speech, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters addressed his party’s new proposal to split up energy gentailers, the state of the economy, Covid and his party’s aspirations at this year’s election.
He also spent time taking shots at his political rivals, with sections of his speech dedicated to Labour, the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori.
Peters also acknowledged the country was “navigating a chaotic environment” and that New Zealand’s economy “isn’t where it should be”.
Here are some the topics Peters touched on.
Energy sector overhaul
Peters anchored much of his speech on energy, announcing his party would campaign on splitting up the energy gentailers (generators and retailers).
He said the policy would ensure energy gentailers could “no longer control both the power and the price”.
“The big four power companies control almost 90 percent of the electricity generation and then sell it back to themselves,” Peters said.
New Zealand First’s Winston Peters during his state of the nation speech.
Photo: RNZ/Dan Jones
“It will mean more power stations. More renewable energy. More competition. More resilience.
“It’s time to secure our electricity system for all New Zealanders.”
New Zealand First Minister Shane Jones had already promised the party would look to split up energy gentailers.
New candidate Alfred Ngaro
New Zealand First also announced Alfred Ngaro as a new candidate, who will run for the party at this year’s elections.
Ngaro – speaking before Peters – said NZ First stood for “what is right” and everything he believed.
Alfred Ngaro.
Photo: RNZ /Dom Thomas
“Right now there is a quiet uncertainty in this country, people are working hard but wondering whether things will get better.
“The best days of New Zealand are not behind us they are ahead of us,” he said.
However several people in the crowd questioned who he was, with Ngaro not introducing himself at the start of his speech.
Fonterra and Air NZ
Peters went on to talk about Fonterra’s proposal to sell Mainland, Anchor and Kapiti.
Fonterra had gone from a “propped-up nationalist company, to a sell-out globalist company”, Peters said.
He also labelled calls for the government to sell its stake in Air New Zealand as “economic neoliberal lunacy”.
“Air New Zealand is our national carrier and a national asset.
“As the majority shareholder, the government should be backing its future rather than dragging it down and hocking it off.”
Covid and Labour failures
Peters said the latest Covid-19 inquiry highlighted failures by the Labour party.
“The report brings questions that need to be answered by Hipkins and Verrall and all those other former ministers,” he said.
“They cannot brush this off… Someone needs to be held accountable.”
Peters claimed Labour wasted billions of dollars and did not “properly advise” the public of the vaccine “risks”, a claim Labour strongly denies.
Speech protests
Protests outside Winston Peters’ State of the Nation speech in Tauranga.
Photo: RNZ/Dan Jones
Peters hosted the event at the Atrium Conference Centre in the Tauranga suburb of Otūmoetai, where a group of protesters gathered holding Palestinian and Māori flags.
People protesting Shane Jone’s fishing reform were seen holding signs that read: “Shane Jones = Fishy deal” and “Big fishing wins Kiwis lose”.
The New Zealand Herald reported some of the protesters as being Destiny Church members.
Currently, NZ First is trending upward in the polls. In the latest RNZ Reid Research poll, the party sat at 9.8 percent in the party vote, which would result in 12 seats in parliament – four more than what it currently holds.
Peters was third in the preferred prime minister ranking, at 12.6 percent. Labour’s Chris Hipkins was at 21.1 percent, with Christopher Luxon on 19.4 percent.
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