What to Consider When Voting

The Ponderer

When thinking about who to vote for, we usually focus on policies – and policy is obviously very important. However, there is another very important consideration we can often overlook, one that is becoming particularly serious right now.

International geopolitics are currently very tense. Tensions are rising between the collective West and the collective East (for want of better terms) in many different areas – Ukraine, Taiwan, over resources in Africa, the role of the US dollar in international trade, sanctions and more. The international situation is uncomfortably similar to the situations in the leadups to World Wars I and II.

There is a very real possibility that the next government could be a wartime government: unless they have the wisdom and diplomatic experience to keep us out of war.

It will be very important for our next government to include people who personally know the leaders and foreign ministers of other countries, understand their concerns and desires and who can keep New Zealand in a good position in the world through careful diplomacy. In other words, we need some senior politicians with experience and contacts.

New Zealand is represented on the world stage by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister, and on occasion the Deputy Prime Minister. So who, in the current list of candidates for this election, has actual experience in any of these roles?

Avoiding any judgment on competency, these are the current candidates with experience in these roles, listed in order of years of experience.

1. Winston Peters. Total of 8 years of relevant experience, 3 as Minister of Foreign Affairs (2005–2008), 2 as Deputy Prime Minister (1996–1998), 3 as both roles simultaneously (2017–2020). Total of 42 years in parliament. May or may not get in on current polling.
2. Nanaia Mahuta. Three years of relevant experience (Minister of Foreign Affairs 2020-2023). Total of 27 years in parliament. Electorate only, but likely to get in.
3. Grant Robertson. Three years of relevant experience (Deputy Prime Minister 2020–2023). Total of 15 years in parliament. #4 on the Labour list, certain to get in.
4. Gerry Brownlee. Several months as Minister of Foreign Affairs (2017). 27 years in parliament. Dropped to #14 on National’s list, may not get in, depending on how many electorates National wins.
5. Chris Hipkins. Several months as Prime Minister (2023). 15 years in parliament. #1 on Labour’s list, certain to get in.
6. Carmel Sepuloni. Several months as Deputy Prime Minister (2023). 12 years in parliament. #3 on Labour’s list, certain to get in.

And that’s it. Six names, of whom only three have more than a year of relevant experience. Every other recognisable name with relevant experience is gone. Key, English, McCully, Bennett: all gone.

Most people left are from Labour, but only two have more than a year of relevant experience. Only one is from National – Brownlee – yet his experience is minimal, and he may not even return to parliament.

Winston Peters however has more relevant experience than everyone else put together. Despite being old and having been in parliament for much of his life, he has been minister of foreign affairs as recently as 2020, so his experience is contemporary – yet he also has a depth of historical experience to back it up.

I’m not saying Peters is perfect. Like any human, especially a politician (arguably the lowest form of human life), he is deeply flawed. However, he has a depth of experience in this specific and crucial area that nobody else can even approach.

If the international situation gets difficult to navigate, we will need experienced hands at the wheel.

If National forms the next government, and Brownlee does not return to parliament, they may have nobody in government with any relevant experience in international diplomacy. Even with Brownlee they will have little experience, and ACT does not provide any at all. They will need Winston Peters to provide this experience and continuity – even if he is not made Minister of Foreign Affairs himself, he can be present so the minister can seek his advice as needed.

This is the most important reason I will be voting for NZ First. This is a dangerous time in world history. We need National in government, and we need ACT – but because almost everyone in National with this sort of experience has left politics, leaving a crucial gap, we also need Winston Peters.