Summarised by Centrist
Winston Peters has used a public meeting in Cambridge to lay out NZ First’s election-year positioning. He attacked the India free trade agreement, pledged to campaign for withdrawal from the Paris Accord and signalled the party will block the Gene Technology Bill in its current form.
Peters renewed his opposition to the India trade deal signed in April, questioning the inclusion of references to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and claiming parts of the agreement were inconsistent with NZ First’s coalition commitments.
He also confirmed the party would campaign on leaving the Paris Accord, extending NZ First’s criticism of international climate commitments and their costs to New Zealand.
On gene technology, Peters said NZ First remained opposed to the proposed law in its current form because the safeguards were inadequate. He said the legislation was now unlikely to pass before the election and would instead become a campaign issue.
Peters argued New Zealand’s economic and export reputation was built partly on its GE-free status and said the party would not sacrifice that advantage to advance the agendas of its coalition partners.
He also attacked Labour’s proposed public transport fare caps as another example of what he described as a “tax more, spend more, and borrow more” approach.
Peters also confirmed Kevin Stone as the party’s Hamilton West candidate and Casey Costello for Port Waikato.
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