\u201cOh, we haven\u2019t really turned our minds to it, mate,\u201d Jones replied. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve learned the hard way that the only way we have leverage is to focus on our own knitting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shane Jones is NZ First’s deputy leader. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve ruled anyone on the right in or out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s David [Act leader David Seymour] who has said that, if necessary, he\u2019d pick the phone up to talk to [Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong] but, Winston and I, we haven\u2019t turned our mind[s] [to it].\u201d<\/p>\n
National leader Christopher Luxon, on an almost daily basis, reinforces his Opportunity rule-out, despite several polls showing National could need Wong\u2019s support to form a government. Wong has stated her party could work with either Labour or National in government. <\/p>\n
Asked about Luxon\u2019s position, Jones then referenced the perils of effecting change outside of government. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a challenging place to run a political career and try to deliver your mission from Opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n
NZ First leader Winston Peters shakes hands with local candidate Harete Hipango-Brownlie at a Whanganui public meeting. Photo \/ Adam Pearse<\/p>\n
In an interview after his speech in Whanganui, the Herald asked Peters about Jones\u2019 comments, given previous comments from the party leader appeared to confirm NZ First wouldn\u2019t work with Opportunity. <\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I have [ruled them out], no, I haven\u2019t ruled out Opportunity. I\u2019ve just ruled out that they have got any possibility of getting in this election because I don\u2019t think that you guys with all your power can manufacture a party from nowhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen because they won\u2019t be there. What do I base it on? I base it on my political experience and how hard it is to get there, right,\u201d Peters said, adding he wouldn\u2019t waste his time on such questions. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019ve got this audience all wound up today, They feel like me. That\u2019s why they\u2019re going to come out and they\u2019re going to vote like nobody\u2019s business.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the interview had concluded and the Herald was about to leave the venue, Peters was driven up alongside the Herald\u2019s vehicle, rolled down his window and clarified his position, which was: \u201cI\u2019m not working with pinko communists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opportunity was the main target alongside the media throughout an angry address from Peters, who mocked Wong\u2019s Future Generations Commissioner policy and scoffed at the \u201ckingmaker\u201d title afforded to Opportunity following recent polls indicating Wong could choose which bloc to empower. <\/p>\n
About 600 people packed out the Springvale Stadium for NZ First leader Winston Peters’ Whanganui public meeting. Photo \/ Adam Pearse<\/p>\n
About 600 people in Whanganui\u2019s Springvale Stadium responded very positively to many aspects of Peters\u2019 speech, which contained even more criticism of media than his addresses typically do. <\/p>\n
Referring to his meeting the day prior in Palmerston North, Peters appeared incensed about the level of media coverage it received. <\/p>\n
\u201cGo and look at the coverage and try and tell me that\u2019s remotely fair or balanced. Ladies and gentlemen, that\u2019s how dictatorships get underway.\u201d<\/p>\n
His criticism of his party\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
\u201cSadly, 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,\u201d Peters said in response to a question from an audience member who had asked after Peters\u2019 dog, Kobe. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very lucky that he\u2019s okay, but he\u2019s never quite recovered from that \u2026 and it\u2019s amazing, you know, how little the mainstream media talk about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
NZ First leader Winston Peters takes a photo with a woman while holding a photo of the pair 25 years ago. Photo \/ Adam Pearse<\/p>\n
Peters\u2019 mood appeared to perk as he took photos with attendees after he had finished his speech. <\/p>\n
One woman seeking a photo with Peters had brought with her a printed image of her and Peters 25 years ago. <\/p>\n
Peters noted quickly: \u201cShe wants to know why I haven\u2019t aged.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald\u2019s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whang\u0101rei and the Herald in Auckland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cOh, we haven\u2019t really turned our minds to it, mate,\u201d Jones replied. \u201cWe\u2019ve learned the hard way that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7230,5782,314652,76660,124,24571,33092,314651,1888,25901,2176,13489,1362,111,43,139,69,6452,3111,4762,6729,24684,7228,25265,1361,14905,6728,102,4576,80],"class_list":["post-641607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-coalition","tag-comments","tag-correcting","tag-corrects","tag-could","tag-decide","tag-deputy","tag-deputys","tag-first","tag-hasnt","tag-jones","tag-leader","tag-made","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-opportunity","tag-out","tag-party","tag-peters","tag-ruled","tag-shane","tag-suggestion","tag-that","tag-whether","tag-winston","tag-with","tag-work","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}