At some point in this election cycle, Winston Peters was going to have to differentiate himself from the Labour party.
He’s now slayed the poor legacy of never completing a term in government, so he is moving to recover the votes he lost after Ron Mark’s cock-up of the gun laws.
And what a way to do it!
NZ First leader Winston Peters has taken aim at his governing partners Labour and the Greens in his opening campaign speech, saying his party was sick of “woke pixie dust.”
Peters used the speech to brag about stopping policies favoured by the two left-leaning parties, saying he would continue to do so throughout the campaign.
“We’ve been an accelerator for great ideas and a handbrake for bad ones,” Peters said.
“New Zealanders need to know what’s out there, and what they have been saved from.”
He has to do this, because there are no longer soft National votes to hoover up with the resurgence of National under Judith Collins.
But it is a great stick to beat Labour and the Greens with.
He said NZ First had defended conservative social values and been handbrake on “the nanny state.”
“We’ve used common-sense to hold Labour and the Greens to account. We’ve opposed woke pixie dust. We’ve defended socially conservative values, like the right to believe in God. We’ve focused on the wisdom of sound economics.
The capital gains tax and Auckland light rail plan, both of which NZ First killed, came in for particular criticism.
“New Zealand First shut down Auckland light rail because sunlight and fiscal sense demanded it. If Aucklanders knew the cost and disruption of light rail, they’d be shocked with collective alarm,” Peters said.
Winston Peters must now poach votes off Labour as they aren’t going to get any from National anymore.
It is game on for the election.
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