The only problem: Barely any of them bothered to turn up.
The vacant area outside the Palmerston North conference centre was a far cry from the crowds of protesters that chanted outside the same venue during Peters’ 2024 State of the Nation speech and the party’s conference last year in Hamilton.
It was a different story last year. In 2024, police arrested two people after protesters accosted Winston Peters and pushed Shane Jones at NZ First’s national conference in Hamilton. Photo / Mike Scott
Jones, who gets immense delight in having abuse hurled at him, was not content using his megaphone to direct the hundreds of people streaming in to listen to his leader. He pushed past the crowd in the hope of finding some opposition.
He found one woman wearing a bike helmet, armed with a Mecca bag and a petition document.
NZ First MP Shane Jones responds to the few protesters who showed up to Winston Peters’ leader’s address in Palmerston North. Photo / Adam Pearse
About 50m down the street, a handful of Palestine flags accompanied a couple of people with a loud-hailer, hollering. Their effort was so poor, they were outnumbered by the greyhounds brought by owners unhappy with the Government for shutting down racing.
Jones briefly engaged with those camped down the road before giving up and heading back inside.
Peters had much the same issue. He’d even set aside time in his speech to speak directly to potential protesters, almost baiting them into having a crack.
“Disrupt here and we will throw you out,” Peters threatened. The crowd looked around; no one moved.
Protesters were notably absent from the NZ First leader’s address on Sunday. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Peters had long railed against the media’s tendency to cover his public events through the lens of protest, but NZ First knows better than most the marketability of conflict, to the point where jokes are shared about how much protesters are paid.
In the absence of protest, Peters had to rely on his speech to get attention.
He didn’t skimp on quantity. For roughly one hour, two minutes and 25 seconds, Peters thundered away to the delight of 500 people watching in the room and another 500 split across two overflow rooms watching livestreams.
He came with promised policy announcements that had little under the surface.
Peters’ proposal: To make KiwiSaver contributions compulsory (something he has opposed in the past), to eventually increase contributions to 10%, and to make up for it with tax cuts came with no projected cost or potential timeline.
Hundreds who turned up had to watch a livestream as the main room reached capacity. Photo / Mark Mitchell
He didn’t blink when challenged on how the bill could exceed a billion dollars, citing a world “awash with cash” and stronger KiwiSaver funds turbocharging investment.
Immigration was next, and you didn’t have to be a greyhound to hear the dog whistle; NZ First wanting to make migrants sign a values statement, as they do in Australia when applying for visas.
“Concerns are growing as to some of the people who have come here who don’t salute our flag, don’t honour the values of our country, don’t respect the people living here, don’t respect the right to have our own religion and freedom of speech,” he said.
“If you don’t want to sign to those values, then you’ve got a very clear answer – don’t come.”
It came only a week after Peters agreed to open the door for migrants flush with cash to invest and buy a home; something his party’s members appear to have begrudgingly accepted given any home under $5 million is off-limits.
It sets up a narrative of the good and the bad migrant, one Peters will no doubt push as we move closer to the election.
While some might see such a narrative belonging to NZ First, its coalition parties appear to recognise its fertile soil.
Immigration represents fertile ground for parties on the right. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Peters had barely left the stage before journalists were sent a text by Act with a statement from Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden, revealing plans to seek Cabinet’s approval to implement a “values pledge” for citizenship applicants and claiming Jones had been consulted.
“I’m glad to see NZ First is on board with the idea,” van Velden remarked.
Jones maintains he referred van Velden to the party for further discussion. Without a win elsewhere, NZ First is unlikely to ditch their own policy if it means admitting Act’s is superior.
Even National has dipped its toe in, with Immigration Minister Erica Stanford last week strengthening deportation criteria.
The speech was devoid of any criticism for his coalition partners. Perhaps Peters felt Jones’ crack yesterday at the Government’s (Christopher Luxon’s) “managerialism” was enough.
Instead, he targeted the left and their leaders, Labour’s Chris “Hopkins” (or the “sausage roll eater”), the Green Party’s Chlöe Swarbrick and Te Pāti Māori’s Rawiri Waititi.
Peters raged at Te Pāti Māori’s late electoral returns and deemed the party illegitimate as a result.
Standing in front of New Zealand flags, Peters gave an hour-long speech. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Clearly the people of Tāmaki Makaurau aren’t fazed as they elected Te Pāti Māori’s Oriini Kaipara as their MP over Labour’s Peeni Henare, a result that saw jaws drop as NZ First members ducked out of their gala dinner to watch the All Blacks.
Last night’s byelection result was notably absent from Peters’ address, particularly given the embarrassment it causes for Labour, which says it wants to regain all Māori seats in 2026.
He instead ended with Covid-19, a fruitful avenue with his base, although a topic that was rarely raised across the two-day conference.
Peters latched on to Hipkins, Dame Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson not fronting public hearings for the new Covid inquiry, a stick Labour will be beaten with right up to the election.
“Murderers,” one woman muttered under her breath.
Even with a speech longer than most he normally gives, Peters appeared energised. Campaign Winston is back and in full force.
Some would argue he’s never left. Regardless, the conference proves the whistling will only grow longer and louder.
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.