Rt Hon Winston Peters: Media Misrepresentation, Inconsistency, And Dripping Bias

Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it.

The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance to the holocaust’. This line has been repeated over again.

The blatant misreporting and subsequent outrage from some journalists is not only a disgraceful example of journalism, but yet another example of blatant political bias.

Here is my full quote referring to the Māori Party Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi’s previous comments about Māori having ‘superior genetics’:

“It was not just ideological theory, it was race-based theory. Where some people’s DNA made them, sadly, according to these people, and condoned by their cultural fellow travellers, their DNA made them somehow better than others.

I’ve seen that sort of philosophy before, I saw it in Nazi Germany, we all did. We have seen it elsewhere in the world in the horrors of history, but right here in our country tolerated by the very people whose job is to keep the system honest.”

There was no mention of co-governance or the holocaust.

The clickbait low-grade journalism being shown by some in our media is an insult to the public of New Zealand and to their very own profession.

The dripping bias and subsequent outrage surrounding their self-determined inference of a comparison to the ‘holocaust’, ‘genocide’, ‘white supremacy’ and ‘dictatorships’ from these journalists, is writ large in their inconsistency when reporting on others.

* Co-Leader of the Māori Party Debbie Ngarewa Packer said this in her maiden speech - "I stand here as descendant of a people who survived a holocaust, a genocide, sponsored by the House and Members of Parliament…”

* The Māori Party shared a screenshot of another users post on Instagram which described the Government parties as ‘white supremacists’.

* The Māori Party described the Government’s repeal of the smokefree reforms as amounting to ‘genocide’.

* RNZ reported on the Posie Parker event quoting the executive director of Auckland Pride saying – “When you look back at Nazi ideology of the 1930’s, those things are very much aligned in terms of eradicating rainbow communities from public life.”

* The former Green MP Gholriz Gahraman posted a photo on social media, whilst attending the Posie Parker event and her accompanying words - “So ready to fight the Nazis” – referring to Posie Parker and the Women’s rights protestors.

Where was the outrage shown by those in the media about these examples of direct and specific comparisons to the ‘holocaust’, ‘genocide’, ‘Nazis’ and ‘Nazi ideology’?

And when did they media rush down to the Synagogue and ask about these statements? Not one of them did.

Not once in my speech did, I mention anything of, nor made comparisons to, the horrific holocaust or genocide, nor did I compare it to co-governance.

I stated a fact that Waititi made public comments about a certain race and ethnicity having superior DNA to other races and ethnicities in our country – and that we had seen that before, knowing that is the seed of division, racism, and the ‘horrors of history’. That statement I made is a fact.

The moment you argue that one race has superior DNA to other races you're leading to awful racial consequences.

I'm not backing down one iota. I want everybody in this country no matter whether they're here for 1000 years or here yesterday legally to be treated the same - equally as one people.

I make no apology for that.

Winston Peters is the Deputy Prime Minister (Until 31 May 2025), Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister for Racing. He has worked as a primary and secondary school teacher and has practised as a Barrister and Solicitor, including in his own law firm. This article was first published HERE