Protesters outside New Zealand First’s Hastings public meeting. Photo \/ Jack Riddell<\/p>\n
He said the reason he was standing for the party was it was the only one coming up with solutions.<\/p>\n
Randell cited a recent opinion piece that said Hawke\u2019s Bay could be a \u201cmain event\u201d at the election<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFor once, the road to the Beehive runs straight through Hawke\u2019s Bay,\u201d he quoted from the piece.<\/p>\n Next was Nash<\/a>, who made a bet with the audience that Peters would be the only political leader who came to talk to the region.<\/p>\n Nash initially retired from politics in 2023, after he was sacked from Cabinet<\/a> following a revelation he leaked confidential Cabinet information to two donors.<\/p>\n Of his and his great-grandfather\u2019s former party, Labour, he said he did not leave Labour but \u201cLabour left me\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cLabour now stands for those who complain the loudest, whereas New Zealand First stands for those who work the hardest,\u201d Nash said.<\/p>\n Peters then took his place in the spotlight by making a slight gaffe, followed by a quick comeback.<\/p>\n \u201cStuart and Tane have a real chance of turning things around in the Bay of Plenty \u2013 in the Hawke\u2019s Bay. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd they\u2019re going to make the Hawke\u2019s Bay a bay of plenty.\u201d<\/p>\n Peters came out swinging at the left bloc, his current coalition partners and had a swipe at the current crop of Hawke\u2019s Bay MPs, Catherine Wedd (Tukituki), Katie Nimon (Napier), Mike Butterick (Wairarapa) and Cushla Tangaere-Manuel (Ikaroa-R\u0101whiti).<\/p>\n \u201cAs they say in the deep south of the United States \u2013 they\u2019re long on the lip and slow on the hip.\u201d<\/p>\n Peters\u2019 opinion on Labour: \u201cLabour is now a party of lanyard-wearing socialists who walk around in comfortable shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n His opinion on the Greens: \u201cThey are nuttier than squirrel scat and have the political IQ of mung beans.\u201d<\/p>\n On Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori: \u201cA massive disappointment for M\u0101oridom.\u201d<\/p>\n Peters said NZ First stood for a \u201cfunctioning\u201d health system, a top-class education system, affordable housing and \u201cFirst World wages\u201d.<\/p>\n He said the party would break up the gentailers<\/a>, bust the supermarket duopoly<\/a>, buy back the Bank of New Zealand<\/a> and leave the Paris Agreement<\/a> to avoid shelling out $22 billion to pay \u201cour way of obligations\u201d.<\/p>\nWinston Peters on stage at New Zealand First’s Hastings public meeting. Photo \/ Jack Riddell<\/p>\n