Winston Peters

The Right Honourable Winston Peters MP
13th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 16 December 1996 – 14 August 1998
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Jim Bolger (1996–1997) Jenny Shipley (1997–1998)
Governor-General	Sir Michael Hardie Boys
Preceded by	Don McKinnon
Succeeded by	Wyatt Creech
1st Treasurer of New Zealand
In office 16 December 1996 – 14 August 1998
Prime Minister	Jim Bolger (1996-1997) Jenny Shipley (1997-1998)
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Bill Birch
26th Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 19 October 2005 – 29 August 2008[1]
Prime Minister	Helen Clark
Preceded by	Phil Goff
Succeeded by	Helen Clark (acting) Murray McCully
35th Minister of Māori Affairs
In office 2 November 1990 – 1 October 1991
Prime Minister	Jim Bolger
Preceded by	Koro Wētere
Succeeded by	Douglas Kidd
Leader of the New Zealand First Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 July 1993
Deputy	Tau Henare (1993-1998) Peter Brown (1998-2009) Tracey Martin (2009-2015) Ron Mark (2015-present)
Preceded by	Party established
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Hunua
In office 25 November 1978 – 28 November 1981
Preceded by	Malcolm Douglas
Succeeded by	Colin Moyle
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Tauranga
In office 17 July 1984 – 17 September 2005
Preceded by	Keith Allen
Succeeded by	Bob Clarkson
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Northland
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 March 2015
Preceded by	Mike Sabin
Personal details
Born	Winston Raymond Peters 11 April 1945 Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand
Political party	New Zealand First (1993–present) Previous affiliations; National (1978–1993)
Spouse(s)	Pamela Peters (m. 1970; div. 1987)
Relations	11 siblings; including Jim and Ian
Children	2
Parents	Kihirini "Len" Peters Joan McInnes
Education	Dargaville High School Whangarei Boys' School
Alma mater	University of Auckland
Occupation	Teacher barrister solicitor
Profession	Lawyer Politician

Winston Raymond Peters PC (born 11 April 1945) is a populist^[2] New Zealand politician and leader of New Zealand First which he founded in 1993. Peters has had a successful and turbulent political career since first becoming a Member of Parliament in the National Party win of 1978. Peters first served as a Cabinet Minister when Jim Bolger led the National Party to victory in 1990, before Bolger sacked him in 1991. As leader of New Zealand First, he held the balance of power after the 1996 election and formed a coalition with National, securing the positions of Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer. However, the coalition dissolved in 1998 following the replacement of Bolger by Jenny Shipley as Prime Minister.

In 1999 New Zealand First returned to Opposition before entering into a government again with the Labour Party in 2005, in which he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. On 29 August 2008 he stood down as a Minister pending a police investigation into a funding scandal involving Peters and New Zealand First.

In the 2008 general election, New Zealand First failed to reach the five percent threshold and Peters did not regain his seat.^[3] As a result, neither Peters or New Zealand First were returned to Parliament. However, in the 2011 general election New Zealand First experienced a resurgence in support, winning 6.8 percent of the party vote to secure eight seats in Parliament.^[4] In the 2014 general election, NZ First gained 11 seats and finished with 8.6 percent.

Early life

Peters was born in the Northland city of Whangarei. His father is of Māori descent and his mother of Scottish descent. His iwi affiliation is Ngāti Wai and his clan is McInnes. Two of his brothers, Ian and Jim, have also been MPs, and another brother Ron has also stood as a New Zealand First candidate.

After attending Whangarei Boys' High School and Dargaville High School Peters studied history, politics and law at the University of Auckland and graduated BA and LLB before working both as a lawyer for the law firm of Russell McVeagh^[5] and as a teacher. He was a member of the University Rugby Club in Auckland and captain of the Auckland Māori Rugby team. He also played in the Prince of Wales Cup for the Māori All Blacks trials. One brother, Wayne, played rugby for Otago and North Auckland in the then National Provincial Championship and was in the Junior All Blacks while another brother, Allan, represented Wanganui in rugby.

Member of Parliament

National Party

Peters entered national politics in 1975, standing unsuccessfully for the National Party in the electorate seat of Northern Maori; he got 1873 votes, and was the first National candidate in a Maori seat for some years who did not lose his deposit.^[5] This followed a successful campaign by Peters and other members of his Ngati Wai iwi to retain their tribal land in the face of the Labour government's plan to create coastal land reserves for the public. The result was that virtually no ancestral land was taken by the government of the day in the Whangarei coastal areas, and the initiative helped inspire the 1975 Land March led by Whina Cooper.

Peters successfully ran again in 1978 but only after winning in the High Court an electoral petition which overturned the election night result for the seat of Hunua (an electorate in the Auckland area) against Malcolm Douglas, the brother of Roger Douglas. He lost this seat in 1981, but in 1984 he successfully stood in the electorate of Tauranga.^[6]

On 16 December 1986, he exposed the Māori loan affair in Parliament.

He became the National Party's spokesperson on Māori Affairs, Consumer Affairs, and Transport. In 1987, he was elevated to National's front bench, acting as spokesperson for Māori Affairs, Employment, and Race Relations. After National won the 1990 election, Peters became Minister of Māori Affairs in the fourth National government, led by Jim Bolger.

Peters disagreed with the party leadership on a number of matters, and frequently spoke out against his party regarding them. This made him relatively popular with the public. However, his party colleagues distrusted him, and his publicity-seeking behaviour made him increasingly disliked within his own party. While National may have tolerated his difference of opinion, they were far less willing to accept public criticism from a Cabinet minister which they determined was undermining the party. In October 1991, Bolger sacked Peters from Cabinet.

Peters remained as a National backbencher, continuing to criticise the party. In late 1992, when the National Party was considering possible candidates for the elections in the following year, it was decided that Peters would not be allowed to seek renomination for Tauranga. In Peters v Collinge, Peters challenged this decision in the High Court, and in early 1993, he chose to resign from the party and from Parliament. This prompted a by-election in Tauranga some months before the scheduled general election. He stood as an independent and won easily.

New Zealand First

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
1978–1981	39th	Hunua		National
1984–1987	41st	Tauranga		National
1987–1990	42nd	Tauranga		National
1990–1993	43rd	Tauranga		National
1993	43rd	Tauranga		Independent
1993–1996	44th	Tauranga		NZ First
1996–1999	45th	Tauranga	1	NZ First
1999–2002	46th	Tauranga	1	NZ First
2002–2005	47th	Tauranga	1	NZ First
2005–2008	48th	List	1	NZ First
2011–2014	50th	List	1	NZ First
2014–2015	51st	List	1	NZ First
2015–present	51st	Northland	1	NZ First

Shortly before the 1993 election, Peters established New Zealand First and retained his Tauranga seat. Another New Zealand First candidate, Tau Henare, unseated the Labour incumbent in Northern Maori, helping to convince people that New Zealand First was not simply Peters' personal vehicle.

In the 1996 elections, the MMP electoral system delivered a huge windfall to New Zealand First. The party won 17 seats and swept all of the Māori electorates. More importantly, it held the balance of power in Parliament. Neither National nor Labour had enough support to govern alone. Neither party could form a majority without the backing of New Zealand First, meaning Peters could effectively choose the next prime minister.

It was widely expected that he would throw his support to Labour and make Labour leader Helen Clark New Zealand's first female prime minister. Peters had bitterly criticised his former National colleagues, and appeared to promise that he would not even consider a coalition with Bolger. However, after over a month of negotiations with both parties, Peters decided to enter into coalition with National. Michael Laws, the party's campaign manager, later claimed that Peters had already decided to join forces with National and used his negotiations with Labour simply to win more concessions from Bolger.

Whatever the case, Peters exacted a high price for allowing Bolger to stay on as prime minister. Peters became Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer (senior to the Minister of Finance), the latter post created especially for him. Initially, there were concerns about whether Peters would be able to work with Bolger, the National prime minister who had previously sacked him from Cabinet, but the two did not seem to have any major difficulties.

Later, however, tensions began to develop between Peters and the National Party, which only worsened after Jenny Shipley staged a party room coup and became prime minister. After a dispute over the privatisation of Wellington International Airport, Peters was sacked from Cabinet again on 14 August 1998. He immediately broke off the coalition and led New Zealand First back into opposition.^[7] However, several MPs, including deputy leader Henare, opted to stay in government and leave New Zealand First. It later came out that Henare had tried to oust Peters as leader, but failed. None of the MPs who opted to stay in government retained their seats in the next election.

New Zealand First was severely mauled in the 1999 elections, which saw Labour oust National from power. The party suffered for the rash of party-switching. Additionally, there was a wide perception that Peters had led voters to believe a vote for New Zealand First would get rid of National, only to turn around and go into coalition with National. New Zealand First collapsed to 4.3 percent of the vote, and would have been shut out of Parliament had Peters not managed to hold onto Tauranga by 63 votes. This only allowed New Zealand First to win five seats. Under New Zealand's MMP rules, a party that falls below the 5 percent threshold can still qualify for MMP by winning one electorate seat. Still in opposition, he continued to promote his traditional policies, but also became more noticeably concerned about immigration policies.

In the 2002 election, Peters performed well once again, campaigning on three main issues: reducing immigration, increasing punishments for crime, and ending the "grievance industry" around Treaty of Waitangi settlements. This message regained much support for both Peters and his party, especially from among the elderly who had in the past backed Winston Peters, and New Zealand First won 10 percent of the vote and 13 seats. Peters seemed to hope that Labour would choose to ally with New Zealand First in order to stay in power. However, Clark explicitly rejected this possibility, instead relying on support from elsewhere. This appeared to anger Peters considerably.

In a speech at Orewa in 2005, he criticised immigration from Asian countries as "imported criminal activity" and warned that New Zealanders were "being colonised without having any say in the numbers of people coming in and where they are from." He also accused the Labour Party of having an "ethnic engineering and re-population policy."^[8] In July 2005, Peters said New Zealand should err on the side of caution in admitting immigrants until they "affirm their commitment to New Zealanders' values and standards."

SuperGold Card

Introduction

New Zealand First^[9] introduced the SuperGold Card^[10] to improve the quality of life of New Zealand’s senior citizens and acknowledge their contribution to society. As a condition of the 2005 confidence and supply agreement^[11] between the New Zealand First Party and the Labour Government, Winston Peters^[12] launched the SuperGold Card in August 2007.^[13] The well-being of seniors has always been a primary concern for New Zealand First, and the party has taken many initiatives to improve the life of seniors.

New Zealand First established a research team to design the SuperGold Card,^[14] which included public transport benefits like free off-peak travel^[15] (funded by the Government) and discounts from businesses and companies^[16] across thousands of outlets. Winston Peters negotiated with then Prime Minister Helen Clark despite widespread opposition^[17] to the card on the grounds of high cost. However, it was argued much of the extra costs were ‘book entries’, for example; the Government subsidises much of public transport anyway, where buses and trains travel with empty seats during off-peak hours. SuperGold Card commuters are simply using buses and trains during off-peak times (Auckland SuperGold cardholders also enjoy the benefit during peak times). The real costs are relatively low compared to the benefits enjoyed.

Performance

SuperGold Card

The SuperGold Card has been one of Winston Peters’ flagship initiatives.^[18] It is available to all eligible New Zealanders over the age of 65. The card provides over 600,000^[19] New Zealanders with access to a wide range of government and local authority services, business discounts, entitlements and concessions, such as hearing aid subsidies.^[20] A Veterans’ SuperGold Card,^[21] also exists for those who have served in the New Zealand Defence Force in a recognised war or emergency. The SuperGold Card can also be combined with the Community Services Card.^[22] This is renewed for reassessment every three years. Seniors can go to the AA and upload their Photo ID^[23] onto their SuperGold Card for free if they choose.

The major benefit of the SuperGold Card is improved mobility through use of public transport in off-peak hours.^[24]

SuperGold Card came under threat in 2010^[25] when Minister Steven Joyce tried to terminate free SuperGold transport on some more expensive public transport services, including the Waiheke Island ferry and the Wairarapa Connection train.^[26] The Minister retreated when he came under fire from senior citizens.

SuperGold Members’ Bills

In the 51st New Zealand Parliament 2014-2017, New Zealand First has two Members’ Bills which directly benefit SuperGold cardholders.

The SuperGold Health Check Bill which will give all SuperGold Card Holders three free doctors’ visits every year is coming up for First Reading in Parliament in February 2015.

The SuperGold Health Insurance Rebate proposes 25 per cent off health insurance for SuperGold cardholders is part of the Affordable Healthcare omnibus bill in the members' bill ballot sponsored by NZ First MP Fletcher Tabuteau.

2005 election

Winston Peters greets U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at Auckland Airport in 2008

As the 2005 general election approached, Peters did not indicate a preference for coalition with either of the major parties, declaring that he would not seek the "baubles of office". He promised to either give support in confidence and supply to the party with the most seats, or to abstain from no-confidence votes against it, and that he would not deal with any coalition that included the Greens. He pledged to keep post-election negotiations to under three weeks following criticism of the seven-week marathon it took to broker a deal with National in 1996.

In the election, some of New Zealand First's traditional support moved to National. Peters himself narrowly lost his longstanding hold on Tauranga to National MP Bob Clarkson, but New Zealand First did well enough to receive seven seats (down from 13 in 2002), allowing Peters to remain in Parliament as a list MP. Soon after the 2005 election Peters launched a legal challenge against Clarkson. The case alleged that Clarkson had spent more than the legal limit allowed for campaign budgets during elections in New Zealand. This legal bid ultimately failed, with a majority of the judges in the case declaring that Clarkson had not overspent.

In negotiations with Clark after the election, Peters secured the ministerial portfolios of Foreign Affairs and Racing in the Labour-led government, a move which apparently lay at odds with his earlier promise to refuse the "baubles of office". He was a member of the Executive Council, although he was outside cabinet. He was able to criticise the government in areas not related to his portfolios, which experts said^[27] was an unprecedented situation. Considering his previous comments relating to immigration, there were mixed reactions from commentators.^[28] His selection for the Foreign Affairs portfolio created some measure of surprise within the country and beyond. National Party leader Don Brash said the choice was "astonishing", because "the whole region distrusts Winston Peters – Australia, Asia [...]. I think putting him as minister of foreign affairs does huge damage for our international reputation."^[29] The Age, in Australia, expressed surprise that the position had been given to an "outspoken, anti-migrant populist [and] nationalist".^[29]

Allegations concerning Peters' involvement with Simunovich Fisheries and former Member of Parliament Ross Meurant, who was engaged as both adviser to Peters and in undefined business activities with Peter Simunovich (managing director of Simunovich Fisheries), culminated in a Parliamentary Select Committee enquiry into what became known as the 'scampi enquiry'. The enquiry cleared Peters, Simunovich and Meurant of any wrongdoing.

In October 2006, Peters affirmed that he would continue to serve as leader for the 2008 election.^[30]

2008 election

Peters in 2008

Peters tried to regain Tauranga in the 2008 election and lost to National's Simon Bridges by a margin of 11,742 votes, a much larger loss than in 2005.^[31] With New Zealand First gaining 4.07 percent of the vote and failing to reach the 5 percent threshold to enter Parliament without winning an electorate seat, Peters did not enter the 49th New Zealand Parliament.^[32] In his concession speech, Peters promised, "This is not the end", and alluded to the fact that while New Zealand First would not have any members in Parliament, it was still New Zealand's fourth largest political party, with 4.07 percent of the vote. Despite this, political commentators described the defeat as "the end of the road" for Peters.^[33]

Peters generally shunned the media spotlight following the election. In 2009, he caused a brief flurry of interest when it was revealed he was still using a ministerial car, some months after his election defeat.^[34] Later it was reported he had started writing a rugby column for a local magazine.^[35] He appeared on TV ONE's Q & A programme on 5 July 2009, confirming that he was still the leader of New Zealand First. He hinted at a political comeback and attacked the New Zealand government's review of the Foreshore and Seabed Act.^[36] In late 2010 and early 2011 Peters made a number of appearances on television and radio where he made it clear his and New Zealand First's intention to contest the 2011 election. As of 2011 Peters and New Zealand First still register in major political polls. New Zealand First's annual convention in July 2011 received widespread media coverage and somewhat restored the media's interest in Peters and the party.^[37]

2011 election

In the 2011 general election New Zealand First experienced a resurgence in support, winning 6.8 percent of the party vote to secure eight seats in Parliament.^[4]

2014 election

In the 2014 general election New Zealand First increased their parliamentary representation further, winning 8.6% of the party vote to secure 11 seats in the New Zealand parliament.

2015 Northland by-election

After the resignation of Mike Sabin in the New Zealand electorate of Northland, a by-election was held, which was won by Winston Peters with a commanding majority, despite the National Party having held the seat for many decades. With Winston Peters resigning his list seat in order to take up the Northland seat, this allowed New Zealand First's representation in parliament to increase to 12, with Ria Bond, the next available candidate on New Zealand First's party list filling the vacant list seat.

Views and policies

Peters talking to Bryce Edwards at an election event in 2011.

Peters does not fit neatly on either side of the political spectrum. He says he distrusts the corporate world, a fact sometimes used to label him as left-wing. However, he favours cutting taxes and shrinking the size of government, and has long exhibited strong conservatism in his social policy.

Peters has a generally fraught relationship with the media with media interactions often described as confrontational. Peters attributes the hostility of media coverage to foreign-ownership of New Zealand media assets and their political agenda.^[38]

Peters has campaigned in previous elections for compulsory superannuation schemes for all New Zealanders. He has cultivated support amongst the elderly in particular, and his support has been concentrated among New Zealanders over 60 years of age.

In 2007, Peters was bestowed with the chiefly Samoan title Vaovasamanaia, meaning "beautiful, handsome, awesome, delighted and joyful."^[39]

In March 2013, a Peters-led motion criticising the Ben Affleck-directed film Argo was passed unanimously by the New Zealand parliament.^[40]

Funding controversies

Peters attracted media attention in 2008 over controversial payments for legal services and party donations. He had received $100,000 in 2006 to fund legal costs of challenging the election of Bob Clarkson to the Tauranga electorate. The money came from Owen Glenn, a wealthy New Zealand businessman and philanthropist based in Monaco. Under parliamentary rules any gift to MPs over the value of $500 must be relinquished. Peters denied knowing about the source of the money but this was not corroborated by his lawyer Brian Henry and Glenn contradicted Peters' denial.^[41]

The Vela family, prominent in the racing industry, had donated $150,000 to Peters over a four-year period. The payments were made in sums of $10,000 in order to remain within rules governing political party funding.

The Dominion Post published details from New Zealand First sources that before the 2005 election $25,000 had been donated to the party from Bob Jones via the Spencer Trust. The Trust is administered by Wayne Peters, a brother of Winston Peters. Jones confirmed that he had paid the money to the Spencer Trust and was asked by Winston Peters to make the donation.^[42] Peters denies that he had asked Jones for a donation to the party.^[43] The donation was not declared to the Electoral Commission as required by law.^[44]

On 29 August 2008, Peters offered to stand down from his portfolios as Foreign Affairs and Racing Minister,^[45] pending an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office as to whether the donations from Sir Robert Jones and the Vela brothers reached the New Zealand First party as intended.^[46] On 10 September 2008, Winston Peters gave evidence to the Privileges Committee of the New Zealand Parliament in an attempt to refute evidence given by Owen Glenn. The Privileges Committee returned a report on 22 September recommending that Peters be censured for "knowingly providing false or misleading information on a return of pecuniary interests".^[47][48] Parliament passed a motion censuring Peters the following day. All but three of the parties in Parliament (New Zealand First, Labour, and Progressives who abstained) supported the censure.^[49]

Peters was later cleared by the Serious Fraud Office with respect to political donations, however some matters were referred back to the Electoral Commission as it was determined that, while no fraud had taken place, some electoral law matters with regard to funding declarations were not complied with.^[50] The police subsequently decided that no offence had been committed.^[51]

Peters has referred to the affair as part of the "most vicious character assassination seen in any campaign this country has ever witnessed" and unsuccessfully sued Television New Zealand for defamation.^[52][53]

Honours and awards

On 21 May 1998 Peters was appointed to the Privy Council and became The Right Honourable Winston Peters.^[54] He is the only Privy Councillor in the current New Zealand parliament.

See also

• Contents of the United States diplomatic cables leak (New Zealand)

References

1. "Peters 'hurt but calm' in stepping down". The New Zealand Herald. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
2. Bale, Tim; Blomgren, Magnus (2008), "Close but no cigar?: Newly governing and nearly governing parties in Sweden and New Zealand", New Parties in Government (Routledge), p. 94, ISBN 9780415404990
3. Preliminary election results 2008.
4. "The return of Peters". 3 News NZ. 27 November 2013.
5. Hames 1995, p. 7.
6. "Candidate profile: Winston Peters". 3 News (MediaWorks New Zealand). 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 30 November 2011.
7. Laking, Rob (2004). History Case Study.pdf "Selling the Family Silver: The Sale of Wellington Airport – A Case Study in Local Government Decision-Making" Check |url= value (help) (PDF). p. 28.
8. Winston Peters (27 May 2005). "Securing Our Borders and Protecting Our Identity".
9. "New Zealand First website". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
10. "SuperGold Card (MSD website)". New Zealand Government (Ministry of Social Development). Retrieved 1 July 2013.
11. "Confidence and Supply Agreement with NZ First". NZ Government. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
12. "Rt Hon Winston Peters (NZ Parliament website MP information page)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
13. "188 businesses add weight to SuperGold Card (NZ Government website)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
14. "Update: The SuperGold Card (MSD website)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
15. "What is the SuperGold card? ('busit' website)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
16. "SuperGold Card directory updated (NZ Government website)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
17. "Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill — Third Reading (HANSARD)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
18. "SuperGold Card media release (Beehive website)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
19. "SuperGold Card Why Join? (MSD website)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
20. "Increased hearing aid subsidy for SuperGold Card (Scoop.co.nz)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
21. "Veterans SuperGold Card (MSD website)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
22. "Community Services Card application for clients applying for or already receiving New Zealand Superannuation" (PDF). Retrieved 1 July 2013.
23. "Automobile Association of NZ website about the SuperGold Card". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
24. "Benefits of SuperGold Card for Seniors (Auckland Transport blog, 12-3-2010)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
25. "Seniors’ Super Gold Card could be clipped (kiwidollar.com blog 1-3-2010)".
26. "Hasty U-Turn Over SuperGold Card (Colin Espiner, The Press 15-3-2010)". Retrieved 1 July 2013.
27. Hill, Ruth (17 October 2005). "Making Peters Foreign Affairs Minister 'bad for country's image'". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
28. Hill, Ruth (17 October 2005). "Making Peters Foreign Affairs Minister 'bad for country's image'". The New Zealand Herald.
29. "NZ gets anti-migrant foreign minister". The Age (Melbourne, Australia). AAP. 18 October 2005. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
30. "Winston in for long haul". The New Zealand Herald. 15 October 2006. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
31. "Official Count Results—Tauranga". New Zealand Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
32. New Zealand Ministry of Justice (8 November 2008). "2008 Election Results".
33. Savage, Jared; Haines, Leah (9 November 2008). "Winston Peters' last stand is a lost battle". The New Zealand Herald.
34. Milne, Rebecca (1 February 2009). "Peters' big black shopping trolley". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
35. Gower, Patrick (20 June 2009). "Peters' life after politics: Travel, commerce and a little journalism". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 June 2009.
36. ONE News (5 July 2009). "Peters slams review of foreshore law".
37. "'We are not a cling-on party' – Peters slams PM, 'sordid cronyism'". The New Zealand Herald. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
38. Cheng, Derek (11 November 2011). "Winston Peters slams 'disgusting' NZ media". The New Zealand Herald.
39. Tait, Maggie (13 July 2007). "Peters given chiefly Samoan title". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
40. "Argo 'misled the world' – Peters". 3 News NZ. March 12, 2013.
41. Oliver, Paula (27 August 2008). "Peters under fire after Glenn says he asked for donation". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
42. "Businessman wants NZ First to confirm donation". Radio New Zealand. 24 July 2008. Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
43. Gay, Edward (25 July 2008). "Peters' attacks critics, sidesteps donation issues". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
44. Kitchin, Phil (24 July 2008). "Jones gave $25,000 to NZ First". Dominion Post. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
45. "Peters steps down from Government". The New Zealand Herald. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
46. Oliver, Paula; Gower, Patrick (28 August 2008). "NZ First facing 'serious and complex fraud' inquiry". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
47. "Report: Peters censured for 'false, misleading' information". The New Zealand Herald. 22 September 2008.
48. Report of the Privileges Committee into Peters allegations, New Zealand Parliament, September 2008
49. "Peters officially censured by Parliament". The New Zealand Herald. 23 September 2008.
50. "Winston Peters cleared of fraud". TV3. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
51. Gower, Patrick (4 November 2008). "Police decide no charges for NZ First". The New Zealand Herald.
52. "NZ First Campaign Launch Election 2011". Rt. Hon Winston Peters. 30 October 2011.
53. "Winston Peters appeals defamation ruling". NZherald. NZPA. 24 March 2011.
54. "Appointments to the Privy Council" (28 May 1998) 74 New Zealand 1613 at 1644.

Further reading

• Hames, Martin. Winston First: The Unauthorised Account of Winston Peters' Career (Auckland: Random House, 1995).

External links

• New Zealand First: Winston Peters biography
• The Beehive: Winston Peters biography
• Winston Peters – personal website