How frightened is Winston Peters over SFO referral? THIS frightened!

ByMartyn Bradbury

How frightened is Winston Peters over the SFO referral?

THIS frightened!

Winston tweeting just before midnight on Twitter that he is going to appear on Facebook live to answer questions over the NZ First Foundation and its referral to the Serious Fraud Office is an extraordinary move to bypass the Press Gallery who now smell blood and his desperate need to explain a defendable position.

This is a high risk move and a rushed attempt to get ahead of this avalanching crisis.

The fact Winston got burnt by a previous donations scandal in 2008 that buried NZ First and damaged Helen Clark is spookily similar to the idiotic position he’s gotten himself caught in again.

The issue here is that there are two distinct NZ First audiences.

The first are those who have felt left behind by neoliberalism and culture change and cling to Winston as their saviour. For them NZ First is a grassroots movement powered on cake stalls, raffles and knitting fundraisers. They have parochial values and a fear of eclipses.

Then there is the other audience. The behind the scenes regional power houses and economic industries who are drawn to a State that intervenes on their behalf against an ocean of transnationals. It is this class of regional self interest that bankrolls NZ First and Winston has always known this.

Getting caught out serving two masters is as politically embarrassing  as it gets, hence Winston’s need to talk directly to his supporters while bypassing journalists.

Right now, Winston’s only hope is that the SFO decide not to investigate and that the media have digested all the leaked material.

If however there is more leaked material to come, and whomever is leaking has shown a talent for making this damaging, we could finally be witnessing the beginning of the end of NZ First as a political force.

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14 Comments

  1. Let it drag on up to the election, and Jacinda will make consultations about an alternative career, perhaps the UN?

  2. Ironically enough I feel like I would support some system – however “informal” it is, that protects local industry from multinationals.

    Protecting the racing industry on the other hand…

  3. It took minutes for charges to be laid against National Party operators but months for NZF to be referred to police for possible conflict of interest. Fishing expedition?

    1. Just like it took minutes for Nicky Hager’s home to be broken into yet months and months and months for their precious Whaleoil blogger Slater to be looked into….

      Selective justice takes a long time to clang into action for the sake of impartiality, so I hear…

      Sad, really…

    2. On their homepage today, RNZ ran five reports simultaneously on NZF donations. I mean there is reporting and there’s reporting. This is more Winnie-hate derangement syndrome (the other day RNZ had an article on how Pasifika should be included in treaty negotiations. This is getting weird Wallace).

  4. No. Its not going to happen.

    And why?

    Because there is a solid number of those social conservatives who, finding no home with either National, let alone ACT, … and can find no comfort with the Greens or neo liberal Labour ,… will always vote NZ First.

    These are the people who remember… what NZ was like before 1984.

    And to date?… there is no one party who represents them.

    They see a raft of globalistic, neo liberal sell out party’s who are wedded to the very things that are an anathema to them. The very things that, .. many of those on TDB….rail against.

    Its open to subjection whether NZ First is among that number with some… they could be right…however, I think enough people are going to support them in the dearth of party’s that oppose globalism… after all… who else is performing in that role… at least in policy and motivation?

    Nobody.

    1. He’s on 3.6% before the SFO hit the fan. The socially conservative fraction of his support that wanted him to go with National will tend to vote National. Some of his support will simply not vote… he is a dead parrot.

      Bold of him to onto that interweb thingy though. Probably the first time he’s even heard of Facebook 🙂 I’ll bet the Young Nats are preparing a warm reception. Could be a blood bath.

      1. Nope.

        Just aint going to happen, when voters look around and see the carnage of 35 years of neo liberal wreckage.?,… they are going to be looking for who doesn’t play those flutes. Rest assured, Peters and NZ First will be back. In what capacity I leave to you. You can either go for the ChiNational party and ACT, or go for the COL,… in which case, if you are center/ center left?,… you have a much better chance with NZ First being WITH the COL than against.

        The choice is yours.

        Whether you like that or not.

        1. “when voters look around and see the carnage of 35 years of neo liberal wreckage?”

          There’s your problem right there. Outside of your bubble… literally nobody looks around and sees that. All the garbage analysis that flows from that doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.

          In the 2008 general election NZFirst didn’t make it back into parliament against the backdrop of an SFO investigation over donations to the party from Owen Glenn, the Vela family and Bob Jones. Hopefully this will happen again and the unflushable grogan of NZ politics will finally disappear around the bend.

      2. Yet the irony is that it is in fact National that have been found guilty by the SFO and are facing 4 charges. Will that change the minds of right wing voters? Of course not. Therefore they tolerate illegal behavior . Winston did the right thing at the last election and given the votes will do so again

        1. “Yet the irony is that it is in fact National that have been found guilty by the SFO and are facing 4 charges”

          National haven’t been found guilty by the SFO and aren’t facing four charges. Is this bert off Sesame street?

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