Peters is particularly loose when it comes to political opponents.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, in Invercargill, he fictionalised<\/a> Chl\u00f6e Swarbrick\u2019s business-ownership experience.<\/p>\n Today, he called Chris Hipkins a liar \u2013 unsurprisingly disputed by Hipkins \u2013 over what he knew and when about Covid<\/a>, the vaccine and the risk for under-18s.<\/p>\n \u201cHundreds of thousands of young people have been damaged,\u201d Peters said. The number of official heart inflammation complaints are actually in the dozens and the cause is often not definitively known.<\/p>\n But this particular spiel triggered one of the biggest cheers from the 600-plus crowd (the hall and the overflow were both at capacity). This indicates a willingness to agree with a claim that goes beyond what available information says<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another such reaction was after Peters said New Zealand should withdraw from the Paris Agreement and under no circumstances send billions of dollars offshore to offset our emissions.<\/p>\n \u201cGet us out of it!\u201d a lady in the audience literally screamed.<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t entirely preaching to the converted, however. A young man, during the question-and-answer session, asked Peters why the coalition Government was \u201cpouring fuel on the climate crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cI hear no discussion about what we are going to do\u201d amid \u201cthis denial of reality and denial of science\u201d.<\/p>\n The Peters playbook here is to make the provocateur take their seat and once disarmed \u2013 by relinquishing the microphone \u2013 they are then eviscerated at a volume they cannot return.<\/p>\n \u201cGreta Thunberg, your friend, said we\u2019d be gone two years ago but we\u2019re still here,\u201d Peters told him amid an increasingly lively crowd.<\/p>\n The questioner stripped to his \u201cit\u2019s a climate emergency\u201d T-shirt, shouting back as he exited: \u201cYour Government passed a climate emergency!\u201d<\/p>\n This was also loose with the facts; NZ First was not in Parliament when the Labour Government passed a climate emergency motion in December 2020.<\/p>\n For the record, Peters\u2019 rationale is that New Zealand shouldn\u2019t be slashing emissions \u2013 and all the economic pain this would entail \u2013 when it is responsible for only a fraction of 1% of total global emissions. Critics say New Zealand, which has one of the highest per-capita emissions in the OECD, should pull its weight.<\/p>\n Peters later told the Herald, when asked about how withdrawing from Paris might impact our trade deals (legal action has already been filed<\/a>), that there wouldn\u2019t be any repercussions.<\/p>\n \u201cTony Blair recently came out and said that,\u201d Peters added.<\/p>\n Blair\u2019s 2025 paper did not address how the lack of climate action might impact trade deals, but did say: \u201cVoters feel they\u2019re being asked to make financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle when they know that their impact on global emissions is minimal.\u201d <\/p>\n An undecided voter, trying to discern fact from fiction in real time, might have struggled to make sense of it all.<\/p>\n Complicating matters is when Peters acts in a way that lends himself greater credibility, for example when he refrains from making promises he can\u2019t keep.<\/p>\n Asked what he can do to fix the water infrastructure issue in South Dunedin, he said: \u201cI seriously sympathise [but] it\u2019s a local government problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about justice for the murdered Kahui twins<\/a>, Peters didn\u2019t say the culprit will be found but deferred to the legal process and the importance of the separation of powers.<\/p>\n He also lures in his audience with local stories that tug at the heartstrings.<\/p>\nA man leaves Winston Peters’ public meeting after asking Peters what he will do about the climate crisis. Photo \/ Derek Cheng<\/p>\n
New Zealand First Winston Peters speaks during a packed public meeting in Mosgiel. Photo \/ Derek Cheng<\/p>\n