Speaking to RNZ, Peters denied that warning was in any way a \u201cthreat\u201d. He said his letter was intended to alert farmers \u201cto what\u2019s going on\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not interfering with the farming community or with Fonterra. I\u2019m saying, \u2018You have enjoyed by statute and by Parliament the position of a monopoly privilege and now you\u2019re selling it and claiming it\u2019s all of your own right\u2019. No, it\u2019s not. It\u2019s the right of the New Zealand people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
David Seymour argues commercial decisions should be left to farmers, not politicians. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you ask for regulatory conditions and privileges and then you sell them off to some other country\u2019s advantage with no permanency in terms of benefit to New Zealand – or, dare I say, their children and their grandchildren\u2019s chance to go farming in this country – then it\u2019s the Parliament\u2019s duty to examine the full import of this deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a written statement to RNZ, Regulations Minister Seymour – who\u2019s also ACT leader and deputy prime minister – said New Zealand was not a socialist country, and commercial decisions \u201cshould be for business owners, and political decisions for politicians\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anyone wants a say on the Fonterra vote, they should earn the right by getting up at 4am and milking cows for a few decades. If they\u2019re not prepared to do that, they should leave it to the people who are.\u201d<\/p>\n
That comment did not go down well with Peters: \u201cI milked cows almost two decades, and so did Shane Jones, and so did others of us in my caucus.<\/p>\n
Fonterra’s deal could net over $4.2 billion, with farmers voting on the proposal. Photo \/ 123RF<\/p>\n
\u201cWe actually know what one end of the cow looks like compared to some who don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suggestion politicians should stay out of business decisions was \u201cmarvellous, until you demand privileges from Parliament to give yourself the chance of having an edge to then turn against the national interest for your own narrow advantage\u201d, Peters said.<\/p>\n
Fonterra rejected RNZ\u2019s requests for interviews but said it would respond to Peters\u2019 letter with a statement soon.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson also pointed to Parliament records showing it was the select committees that declined to hear from Fonterra, not the other way around.<\/p>\n
Peters told RNZ that was not good enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith respect, Fonterra could have volunteered, regardless of the committee,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because others in the committee have got a perverted idea what free enterprise and capitalism looks like – against the national interest – there\u2019s no reason for them to repeat a mistake that they made when they did that same thing with the Beingmate investment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon\u2019s office told RNZ he had nothing to add to his comments on Monday, in which he said politicians should not be telling farmers what to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s entitled to a view of what he wants, but I\u2019m just saying to you farmers will make that decision, not Winston Peters or not Chris Luxon. We can have our respective reckons and views, that\u2019s fine, but ultimately it\u2019s a decision for farmers<\/a> and they\u2019re quite capable of making the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n