“Oh, we haven’t really turned our minds to it, mate,” Jones replied.
“We’ve learned the hard way that the only way we have leverage is to focus on our own knitting.”
Shane Jones is NZ First’s deputy leader. Photo / Mark Mitchell
After again expressing a reluctance to entertain the prospect, Jones was asked whether there was a party position on the potential of working with Opportunity.
“No, I don’t think we’ve ruled anyone on the right in or out.
“It’s David [Act leader David Seymour] who has said that, if necessary, he’d pick the phone up to talk to [Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong] but, Winston and I, we haven’t turned our mind[s] [to it].”
National leader Christopher Luxon, on an almost daily basis, reinforces his Opportunity rule-out, despite several polls showing National could need Wong’s support to form a government. Wong has stated her party could work with either Labour or National in government.
Asked about Luxon’s position, Jones then referenced the perils of effecting change outside of government.
“It’s a challenging place to run a political career and try to deliver your mission from Opposition.”
NZ First leader Winston Peters shakes hands with local candidate Harete Hipango-Brownlie at a Whanganui public meeting. Photo / Adam Pearse
In an interview after his speech in Whanganui, the Herald asked Peters about Jones’ comments, given previous comments from the party leader appeared to confirm NZ First wouldn’t work with Opportunity.
“Yes, I have [ruled them out], no, I haven’t ruled out Opportunity. I’ve just ruled out that they have got any possibility of getting in this election because I don’t think that you guys with all your power can manufacture a party from nowhere.
“It’s not going to happen because they won’t be there. What do I base it on? I base it on my political experience and how hard it is to get there, right,” Peters said, adding he wouldn’t waste his time on such questions.
“That’s why I’ve got this audience all wound up today, They feel like me. That’s why they’re going to come out and they’re going to vote like nobody’s business.”
After the interview had concluded and the Herald was about to leave the venue, Peters was driven up alongside the Herald’s vehicle, rolled down his window and clarified his position, which was: “I’m not working with pinko communists.”
Opportunity was the main target alongside the media throughout an angry address from Peters, who mocked Wong’s Future Generations Commissioner policy and scoffed at the “kingmaker” title afforded to Opportunity following recent polls indicating Wong could choose which bloc to empower.
About 600 people packed out the Springvale Stadium for NZ First leader Winston Peters’ Whanganui public meeting. Photo / Adam Pearse
About 600 people in Whanganui’s Springvale Stadium responded very positively to many aspects of Peters’ speech, which contained even more criticism of media than his addresses typically do.
Referring to his meeting the day prior in Palmerston North, Peters appeared incensed about the level of media coverage it received.
“Go and look at the coverage and try and tell me that’s remotely fair or balanced. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s how dictatorships get underway.”
His criticism of his party’s media coverage even extended to the wellbeing of his dog after a man used a crowbar to smash a window at his Auckland home last year, despite that incident being extensively covered at the time.
“Sadly, the dog was the victim of a burglary where this person put a steel rod through the window, and the glass got all over the dog,” Peters said in response to a question from an audience member who had asked after Peters’ dog, Kobe.
“We’re very lucky that he’s okay, but he’s never quite recovered from that … and it’s amazing, you know, how little the mainstream media talk about that.”
NZ First leader Winston Peters takes a photo with a woman while holding a photo of the pair 25 years ago. Photo / Adam Pearse
Peters’ mood appeared to perk as he took photos with attendees after he had finished his speech.
One woman seeking a photo with Peters had brought with her a printed image of her and Peters 25 years ago.
Peters noted quickly: “She wants to know why I haven’t aged.”
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.