Winston at 80 – From righteous grievance, economic sovereignty and Conservative Charity to toxic politics, malice and political pus
Winston Peters is a complex man whose sense of identity has always seemed fraught.
There is a well known myth about Winston that when he was at University he would claim to be Italian rather then be identified as Māori.
Which is difficult to believe when you look at Winston’s early political life…
Peters entered national politics in 1975 general election, standing unsuccessfully for the National Partyin the electorate seat of Northern Maori; he gained 1,873 votes, and became the first National candidate in a Māori seat for some[quantify] years who did not lose his deposit.[22] 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 establish coastal-land reserves for the public. As a result, the government of the day took virtually no ancestral land in the Whangarei coastal areas,
…he stood in a Māori electorate and he fought for Māori land rights and he birthed NZ First as a reposes against the cruelty of user pays and against the free market neoliberalism that sold off our economic sovereignty.
That was his genesis and that is how we should remember him because his most recent attempts at staying politically relevant with his disgraceful character assassination of Benjamin Dole, his imported woke culture war and his MAGA Qanon anti-vaxx nuttiness have disgraced any mana he once held.
He turned New Zealand into Old Zealand.
NZ First is so dependent on the Qanon Antivaxxer and anti-Trans movements that their policy is a mix of book burning freakishness with the glee of wilful ignorance.
NZ First doesn’t just need these culture war grievances to stay above 5%, they need it to gloss over the venal corruption of their donor class winning enormous concessions…
…when you are a right wing political party shit posting shrill hatred AND you still lose the NZ Herald, you know you have problems.
On top of Tobacco concessions, trans mining concessions, hatred of the Trans community, seafood industry concessions, polluter concessions and their Grievance Carnival masquerading as a Royal Inquiry into Covid, NZ First also want to:
- Ban fluoridation in the water
- Protect Police from scrutiny when they kill someone.
- DOC to ignore Māori.
- Weird state oversight of the internet.
- Banning begging.
- Remove all mention of the Treaty from everything.
NZ First is a cavalcade of corruption and political circus freak shows that are held together by a shared hatred of Jacinda and vaccines.
NZ First is the dumber country cousin of ACT’s urbane racism and they are ensuring their donors get what they want while peddling petty ignorance for their redneck supporters.
NZ First gives democracy a bad name.
How sad to see Winston stoop this low.
Winston has always wanted to be respected by the NZ establishment but they’ve never given that to him, so he turned to those Kiwis cheated by neoliberalism and his rogue nature could be justified when it was fighting for them.
Sadly in his later career, his rogue nature has ended up fighting not for for NZ First, but for Winston First.
How deeply disappointing for such a political maverick to end up so basic and predictable.
He could have been a Statesman, he’s ended up the angry Uncle no one wants to invite to Christmas.
He’s a Boomer on viagra, a political erection no one wants.
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What’s fascinating to me is the reason for his shift from would be hero to toxic fart sac.
Surely there has to be a reason. Either he is surrounded by a system that is so corrupt he decided it couldn’t be overcome so the only solution is to join it, or there are greater powers that be that shoulder tap every new prime minister/government and remind them that any divergence from the neoliberal wealth transfer (theft) will be met with a response that will not be pleasant for those gone “rogue”.
Otherwise, why do we have no heroes in politics anymore just toxic sociopaths who all seem to be pursuing some elitist agenda while enriching themselves in the process.
People DO change over time but yes, from hero to zero in Winston’s case is a head scratcher. Inv he’s just become more intolerant, as can happen. But that doesn’t really explain the ideological inconsistencies. Power also attracts the fellow and it seems he’ll do almost? anything to retain it. He’s a political warrior with an ego to match his tenacity. Much of it is theatre however. A good part of Winston simply enjoys the rough and tumble of politics. But when he needs to be a statesman he’s well capable.
The sociopathetic flaw – from his first beliefs and what he stood for , it seems ego and narcissism to have power at any cost . Along the way was his history of trashing others Cushing, winebox .. Sold his soul for personal gain
I don’t have any time or respect for Winstone most of his party are a joke and none of them could or would never win an electorate including shane jones. NZF is a divisive and petty party.
The word for Winston is opportunist. He is good at spotting them and exploiting them.
The word for Winston is opportunist. He is good at spotting opportunities and exploiting them.
(Apologies – first post ambiguous)
I see your talking more bullshit Bob the first, this party gets how much of the percentage of total votes.
The polls are up and down and go round and round who knows what will happen come the next election that is when it really counts, but if you look at the patterns there is doom for the COC and they know it. And I believe that is why National and NZF are attacking the Greens credibility they are readable the COC. In the meantime, the circus TOW bill has been obliterated, and I suggest the Greens put their head down and arrrrrse up and get back to business.
Winston with his 5 second memory of a goldfish, said that the Treaty principles protesters at the Beehive wasted their time. Yet when the anti mandate protesters were at the Beehive in 2022, Winston was the complete opposite, supporting and agreeing with the protesters, even though their protest really was pointless, because their never was an absolute mandate on anyone to get vaccinated, and anyone could turn it down. If you lost your job because of the refusal, it’s because you were in a public facing job in the health sector or rest home etc, and it was your choice. Many more public servants are losing their jobs under the current govt, because of the govt’s political decision to shrink the public service, and it’s caused no protests at the Beehive. So the govt Winston is currently part of, has caused higher numbers of public servants to become unemployed. With Winston even trying to downplay the numbers in the Hikoi, when they actually topped 42000. Its obvious Winston is worried, since many of his supporters would be Maori, yet he’s got another 1.5 years of being attached at the hip to the anti Maori arrogant prick Canadian dropout Atlas agenda low rent school lunch purveyor.
Yes, Simple Jack Winstone showed he is an opportunist during the anti-mandate protests. And this protest was nasty, and it attracted some pretty sordid and scummy people who threatened local kids going to school. He has a small following of Māori who appear to be loyal to him, why I don’t know but they seem to believe every word that comes out of his mouth. Winstone and Act as well as National will be keen to get voted back in so the next election is going to get downright nasty and there will be lots of Māori bashing to win over voters. Winstone has already started lobbying as soon he will be handing over his deputy role to Seemore.
Winston has always been like this. He just got worse at hiding it these days.
I think the voting down of The Treaty Principals Bill has ruined The ZB Troll farm in a very real way. I don’t have any evidence but I will be taking a look at the next post election numbers closely. It’s absurd changing the constitutional make up of New Zealand even just briefly with such an embarrassing support base. It’ll be interesting to see how many repeat voters NZ first Act and National can retain.
I guarantee they will give Winnie a fucken knighthood.
Damn it all.
It’s such a shame that an opinion piece on Peters, on a significant birthday, not mention The Winebox(going up a against the truly powerful), Gold Card or him running rings around No Boats Nicky and ensuring we have rail enabled ferries for the next generation or three.
I’ve got no argument with what is proposed above regards opportunism but it must be remembered that even the most rabid anti vaxx conspiriacist still can vote. More likely too than yr comfortable liberal.
Just watching seemores response to the treaty vote. The cope is strong. He’s black wn all of his political capital.
Winston had the charisma to be the leader of the National party and win office as the first Maori PM. If he had been Italian they probably would have let him be leader. Seems like that wound never healed.
Looking forward to getting my Gold Card and a free trip to Waiheke Island!
Winston is just another bandwagon poli .Remember in the nineties his mantra was stop the asian invasion ?well how has that gone .
‘The Right Wing will win the next election in a landslide.’
‘Apart from anointing Ardern, Winston has and still is serving New Zealand well.’
Bob the first man to ever be treated for severe friction burns on his organ.