Hipkins pushes back on Peters’ ruling out Labour again
Labour leader Chris Hipkins is pushing back after New Zealand First’s Winston Peters ruled out working with him “permanently”.
Peters, who hands over the deputy prime minister role to ACT leader David Seymour this weekend, told the NZ Herald that when he ruled out working with Hipkins ahead of the 2023 election “I ruled him out permanently”.
Hipkins told Morning Report Peters had “held the country to ransom for long enough”.
“If people want Christopher Luxon, David Seymour and Winston Peters to run the country like a circus then they can vote for that. If they want a stable government that’s responsible that’s actually trying to bring some maturity to the political debate then give your vote to Labour,” he said.
Winston is giving his clearest message yet for the faction inside Labour who are fearful of Labour’s proximity to the Maori Party that they have to roll Chippy or there can be no deal between Labour and NZ First.
This makes sense, the Māori Labour Caucus staunchly support Chippy and they would never do the dirty on the Māori Party so if Winston has any chance of doing a deal with Labour it will be with a new Leader.
The problem for Winston is that Chippy is probably having the best run of looking far more Prime Ministerial than Luxon than he’s ever had.
On every issue, Chippy has stood head and shoulders over the grubby awful legislation Luxon has championed.
Chippy has been reasonable, ethical and shown real character in standing up against Pay Parity, the appalling punishment of the Māori Party MPs and this latest Budget.
Chippy is showing more leadership on a range of issues than Winston has managed, so rejecting Chippy when he’s probably more popular than ever before means Winston is locked into the Right now.
Winston has always sold his political brand on being a handbrake to the Left and Right but his reliance on culture war fear mongering means he is rejected by the Left and will only be able to fish for votes on the Right as he will be seen as having zero influence with the Left block now.
You won’t vote NZF to keep Labour safe because Labour won’t have a bar of him now.
That faction inside Labour who wanted NZF as a possible balk to Māori Party ‘extremism’ have no choice to find a way to work with the Greens, and Maori Party now, there is no NZF option on the table.
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Chippie said before the last election he would never work with NZT and winston again never .Now the old coot is trying to make out its his idea.Also why does he think he is going to be around next election .In fact he has not actually been elected for any seat since standing in Tauranga years ago and none of his current swamp dwellers are elected .
What happened to the old coots big mouth plans to keep all the jobs at Kinleith and the mill and paper plant at Ohakune .Just another talk fest by the old coot .I see 110 meat workers have been sacked at TeKuiti meat works in the last couple of weeks what is he doing about that ?nothing eh .He is so impotent in government that he has to turn on minorities to look relevent when infact he has sold his sole to Seymoure for the baubles of office .
Chippie or any other ,Labour leader would be a fool to even entertain have NZF as a part of any future government .
Labour must find the policies and the people to push their vote into the 40% area. They must look like they can almost stand alone and not needing to make the kind of concessions that a strong Greens and TPM would place on them.
Middle NZ won’t vote Labour if it means TPM separatism and extreme Green taxation will be part of the deal.
Well said Peter.
So Peter what separatism are you talking about?
They are more interested in scaring people than telling the truth. It’s obvious that TMP are the best of a bad bunch if we are to get any meaningful change so scare tactics are used to keep the 2 legged sheep from investigating party policies.
100% Peter!
Labour fell into the same trap as the Democrats in the US – being merely ‘anti-Trump’ isn’t a coherent policy platform on its own. Chippy standing on the sidelines and disagreeing with everything the government does is not informing voters as to what a Labour government would do instead. My suspicion is that Chippy doesn’t know either, because his caucus is all over the place.
As for rolling Chippy, and replace him with whom exactly? The shadow cabinet is full of talentless no-hopers.
Replace him with Willy Jackson
What extreme taxes policy.
I know that Hipkins and Labour will be whimpish about taxes and they need to stand up. Personally I think Hipkins should have gone a long time ago. They are all take far to much out of their polling and focus groups.
Agree. Hipkins is the death nell to change, change that needs to be radical. He simply cannot do it. Not a visionary and more akin to National of Key era back than labour.
The left won in Canada and Australia by being centrist. Hipkins is plotting an alternative strategy that ties Labour to both the Greens and the Maori Party. Therefore tied to woke, positive discrimination, big government and environmental nuttiness.
Not sure this is an election-winning strategy. Let’s see the next set of polls out there.
“Environmental nuttiness”. You mean actually giving a shit about the environment. National meanwhile have invented a carbon vacuum cleaner, that they empty into the ground. Doesn’t work of course but don’t let facts get in the way of doing nothing. It is nutty not to want nitrates in your water table?
What is envvronmental nuttines.
Are we going to have a planet.
Labour need to publically commit to a whole lot of things.
I guarantee he will water down the ability (which women/unions had) to negotiate over equal pay.
Greenpeace has a petition doing the rounds trying to get Hipkins to commit to ban seabed mining. Like both of the major parties they talk big when in opposition and criticise things that they never reverse when they are in power.
https://action.greenpeace.org.nz/petition/take-a-stand-ban-seabed-mining?utm_source=greenpeace.org&utm_medium=actioncallout&gp_anonymous_id=c6ec14d7-7c2c-468b-aecc-791294b2f937
You forgot to mention UK.The Labour Party there is unrecognizable as the Labour of my youth
They were never like NZ labour according to poms I know .
And what are you saying Trevor.
Like Labour here they are not for the working class at all.
And National is unrecognizable since Jim Bolger. They are now extremist and at the mercy of their powerful donors and American influence.
LOL. The same Bolger that let Ruth Richardson loose. I’m sure Prebble, Douglas and Mike Moore were card carrying members of Labour back in the day.
The whole money thing should have a cap on it frankly. Otherwise as you say we will be a mini America.
All those bloody lobbyists who get time that no one else gets.
Yes Bolger told Luxon to tell Seymour to shut his moth yesterday.
LOL. Yes that Luxon gordon and the same Bolger who apologised for letting Richardson loose and said he made a mistake.
Looking more PMish than Lux isn’t the most compelling endorsement.
Remember when Winston called David Seymour ‘the highest paid beneficiary in the country.’? Remember his sneers against National and ACT? Remember when New Zealand First depended on holding the Maori seats to hold office?
Remember when Rodney Hide and ACT forced Winston into the wilderness? Is Rodney Hide in Parliament now?
Winston has as many disguises as an octopus and is the master of opportunity. His talent is self preservation.
What he says today and does tomorrow are two entirely different things.
Good comment although his luck has to run out eventually.
Winston knows if Chippie stays on labour will win and winston and the swamp party will be gone by lunchtime .NZF is on its last lap because the leader is TRUMP like and going senile .They will be toast next election as they have no elected MPs to carry the other bludgers into parliament .The voters are getting sick of free loading un elected ferals calling the shots .
Twins tonight will still appeal to those that voted for him last time .Many will see that Labour has only the Racist TPM and loony Greens as possible allies will mean they are not appealing especially with a failed leader.
So he will stay with the separatist and narcissistic, corrupt and dictatorship National and ACT parties. Fair enough Trev.
Let’s hope so.
Of course, the old coot Winstone is talking like that (about Chippie) as his time is near, he is very divisive and relies on putting the boot into his own people and appealing to the rubber neckers. When he falls at the next election so will all the losers, has-beens and bludgers he has in his party and NZ first will be gone, good riddance.
Thats if he lasts till the next election .All those fags and whiskey drinks must take its toll soon .
Not soon enough though gordon we need him (winstone) gone asap
Hahaha thinking the same about Trump and Musk, albeit different poisons…. Macdonalds and Diet Coke. Which kills quicker?
Talentless is what we are seeing and experiencing now under the CoC with a talentless PM leading the bunch of talentless. The economy is in a mess with high unemployment, record numbers leaving for Australia, public health and education in disarray, not enough police, increased homelessness, higher incarceration rates, increases in mental illness, people not being about to service their mortgages. All this under the least talented PM and financial minister we have ever had leading our country.
The Labour Party died so long ago that the ghoul that that took over it’s body can’t remember living anywhere else.
See all the usual righty tighty fuckwit comments about Chippy here from the usual suspects, Winston has blown it just like he blew it back in 2020 with his anti Labour spiel. He will soon be gone and he ain’t coming back. I am picking the bald polished turd and his band of motely wet farts that came with dust will be gone with the wind in 2026, or sooner if we are lucky.
When Winston says he wouldnt work with Hipkins its music to his donors ears. When the negotiations happen would Winston work with Labour and keep TPM from power, for his donors interests interests?
Hipkins could do well to build up his whisky tolerance.
What about Winston’s unachieved baubble, would Labour negotiate an end to the Coc, for the good of the people and give the country its first minor party, maori, PM, kept on a tight leash?
There was a minor party PM in Germany for a couple of decades.
yep Hanna for PM and watch NZ grow from strength of a united country working for a better society.
There’s only one reason that this coalition is running down Hipkins is their internal polling must be off the charts against the coalition
For those that remember a Pre-election “promise” by Winston Peters in 1996 to “Never Enter Into a Coalition government with National…” he(Peters) successfully Fooled and Conned a heck of alot of NZ voters with that Shallow Promise.
My late parents and I were totally fooled by that Bullshit and Lies by Peters because within a short period of time of the votes being counted he entered into a Coalition government with Jim Bolger. In other words Winston Peters “Sold the NZ Voters down the Garden Path for His Own Sake of Ego and prestige”. Peters had NO(of what part of NO we don’t understand) intention on being Honest with NZers even back in 1996. Winston Peters was All ABOUT Winston Peters.
I think the Age-ing Peters is somewhat Intimidated by Chris Hipkins. Hipkins is proving to being more Astute and able to answer clearly and logically questions that Peters cannot answer. Instead Peters resorts to his Tried and Now Out-dated responses of Avoiding Answering Questions and throwing Blame-Games(probably something he learnt well during his National party years)onto others.
Peters prefers to castigate and insult those in the Weak Media that ask him questions because perhaps over the years he has become Yet Another LAZY Politician who is more likely a Trougher and Self-Server.
And so when it comes to Hipkins V Peters Peters probably knows he is Out of His Depth but needs to degrade the Much Younger Politician that is Hipkins.
The more Aspersions Winston Peters tries to hit upon Hipkins that more Peter shows himself up as being the Wrong MP in a political party in 2025. The best thing Peters can do is retire and live out his days because thanks to his time in politics he is probably MORE WEALTHIER FINANCIALLY than the average NZ voter in say his electorate and NZ wide.
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