Rt Hon Winston Peters: Oxford Union Debate speech

[Speech delivered in the Oxford Union debate in the affirmative of the proposition ‘This House Believes That the Courts Now Undermine Democracy’. NB:  the speech content is for the purposes of contesting the debate and is not an official statement of Government policy.]

Good evening.

This is a crucial debate because we live in testing times. Trust in core democratic institutions is in sharp decline across western democracies. The mystique that once shrouded long-standing institutions such as presidencies, prime ministerships, legislatures as well as the courts has lifted, leaving them diminished in the eyes of those they serve, the people.

Winston Peters: "Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi - Deletion" Bill......(08 June 2005)

From the archives....

Winston Peters speech on the first reading of New Zealand First's "Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi - Deletion" Bill......(08 June 2005):

Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) : I move, That the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill be now read a first time. At the appropriate time I will seek leave for this bill to be sent to the Justice and Electoral Committee for consideration.

This Parliament should do New Zealanders an invaluable service today. When considering these so-called principles, we must start from the premise that Parliament created this historical anomaly, so it is Parliament that must correct it. We must also ensure that it is clear that this is not an attack on the treaty itself, but on the insertion of the term “the principles of the Treaty” into legislation.

Guest Post: Maori Party threats

A copy of the following letter was forwarded to Michael Bassett. Deputy PM, Winston Peters has also tweeted a copy of the letter saying:

"It seems the Maori Party have sent this letter to all companies who have applied for fast track consideration.

If true, they have shown what extremist economic morons they are and how little they value the future of our country.

David Farrar: Who did we vote with?

Winston Peters announced:

New Zealand has voted for a United Nations resolution on Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian Territory with some caveats, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.

“New Zealand’s yes vote is fundamentally a signal of our strong support for international law and the need for a two-state solution,” Mr Peters says.

Ele Ludemann: Lying about lying

If three’s anything worse than lying, it’s lying about lying:

TĀKUTA FERRIS: —

. . . A knowledge gap is a dangerous thing. It allows lies to be presented as truths. Politicians call this obfuscation—the art of making something unclear, intentionally vague, ambiguous, to conceal or obscure the truth, to confuse others. Lies, in other words. Many in this House are masters of it, and it is a disservice to those who voted you into your positions. Unless, of course—

Rt Hon Winston Peters: Point of order, Mr Speaker. It is simply not acceptable for someone, inexperienced as he is, to nevertheless accuse other MPs— . . .

Clive Bibby: Keeping up with the Joneses

Love him or hate him (and I have had reservations at times) Shane Jones has an incredible ability to survive all the barbs and insults that appear to be part of the job as Winston’s loyal lieutenant.

Together they operate like a tag team - taking turns at blunting the criticism launched at the Government by the radical Maori Activists and anybody else who was responsible for the mess we have to clean up.

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.