Peters WinstonRt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Deputy Prime Minister): Mr Speaker right here right now something that the political experts said could never happen is happening. So congratulations to you—SPEAKER: Yeah what do they know!Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —and also congratulations to Chris Luxon and David Seymour in the formation of this Government and their political parties—something that also the experts said could not happen. So if we're going forward can we just have a look in the future at these experts and start examining their record of being right? Because so many times they have been wrong.I say also that hearing Mr Hipkins today was actually an astonishing event. This is somebody that came to power and had his own bonfire—a bonfire of the stupid vanities that his party had in place. But then today he came along and defended it. The extraordinary thing is he didn't seem to understand that the forward forecast for GDP for next year by the IMF has us at 159 in the world—just in front of Equatorial Guinea and doing less than 1 percent in terms of GDP—and he said that that was a success story. Well you can see why they are so troubled now and in such small numbers.Congratulations to every member of Parliament that's here whatever the party that might be and for the time that you are here because it's a very privileged place to be. We're all here to do one thing: despite what some of your leaders or your manifesto might say—and what your past colleagues might say—you're here to represent everybody as one people called New Zealanders regardless of our DNA our gender our background or our creeds. This country was made being one country. Or as Dame Whina Cooper said we signed the Treaty so that we could become one people. I'll remind some people that were posing here yesterday—as though they're the new vision they're the new light now they're the epiphany of what Māori is—oh no you don't. No you don't. Let me tell you: if you're looking for trouble you've come to the right place.We came back to Parliament doing the impossible.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: We got back from Parliament too. You're not the only ones.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: True; it's true. But let me tell you two things: you're heading for 54 years if you're on the Greens of never having been in Cabinet if your party was formed in the first contest of 1972 under the name Values"—54 years' never being in Cabinet is a long time to wait. Even Moses was only 40 years. For 54 years—and the Green Party is never going to make it back at all and nor is Te Pāti Māori. I'll tell you why it is it's because you're heading straight to the bottom pile claiming to be what you're not: the voice of Māori. Uh-uh no you're not and never will be and certainly not someone who is so decolonised he wears a cowboy hat—so decolonised he wears a cowboy hat. Amazing. Every pretension he's got can be found out in five seconds flat.Whilst we're at it the $350000 that came from a charity why on earth did Te Pāti Māori get that money? So $303500 charity money to Te Pāti Māori and what is going on when that can be allowed to survive in this country's democracy? [Interruption] Oh yeah not too happy now. Well there'll be somebody knocking soon believe me. The same law will apply to them as applies to every other political party.Now can I just say this. We survived the last campaign having been marginalised Cinderella-ised demonised by too many who were in the Public Interest Journalism Fund—paid off in the media. But we're back. No no no. We want a democracy where there is a fourth estate.Hon Willie Jackson: You don't like them.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh no somebody else didn't like them either did he? He would threaten somebody on TV if you please. Of course he wasn't obeying according to the way the fund should be already according to Willie the Minister of broadcasting. It was the most embarrassing circumstance.Hon Willie Jackson: You did the worst interview in history.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Yes I do like journalists. I like journalists who understand that it's a profession and that they are critical to any democracy. But I do not like fifth columnists. I don't like people for example who go out who have politically motivated commentary day in day out. It reeks. Their questions reek of their preference. They're not professionals.Hon Willie Jackson: What are you talking about?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: They're not professionals. Well I can see why Mr Jackson wouldn't understand. Because Mr Jackson has been the key voice in the Labour Party these last six years and he's sent them to their demise. He's their Māori leader—he's their Māori leader—and there's one left now in the Māori seats. Oh and by the way Te Pāti Māori: only one party has ever taken all of the Māori seats off Labour and you're looking at it. Only one party's ever done that. You know before the 2020 election New Zealand First was attacked by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). It's April in 2020 we're on about 4.5 5 almost 5.5 percent and we were attacked by the SFO. Then the media relentlessly as an organisation went after New Zealand First and one outlet—and publicly owned it was too—no fewer than 27 times attacked us. Yet when we beat the SFO; when we beat the Serious Fraud Office—not once but twice: before the election and after it—and put out a press statement about our rights the rights of the victor in this case they never printed a word. They claimed to be balanced; never printed a word. After hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal costs and expense they expect me to forgive them and go back to treating them like the way they should be treated.Hon Willie Jackson: Go on Radio Waatea.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: When they understand—no Radio Waatea didn't do that. You're quite right. Radio Waatea didn't do that because of the guy called Dale Husband that understands fairness. He's one of those guys that despite his colleagues he's professional. Despite people like Willie Jackson he remains professional. I salute that and that's why I go on his show every second week—like the farming show. All those that talk to us will get to talk to us after the election. But those new-found that turn up the day after—or they did the day before the election this is true: I was on there turned up the day before the election and journalists they wanted to interview me. I said "Well is there any chance of any vote being affected by your comment?" "No." "So what the H are you doing here then?" That's what they thought was fair. Then all of a sudden now they wanted Chris Luxon to rule Winston Peters out—he's misbehaving himself. Oh no I'm not—I believe in democracy and I believe in the media and I want to see them back to doing what they should do and not becoming an unelected political party in this country sitting up there [Points to press gallery]. That's all I want. [Interruption] Ha ha!Ladies and gentlemen look can I say that we were out there packing the halls in Tauranga. We got 750 in Tauranga. Not one journalist there. Then we're on to places like Dunedin Papamoa Dargaville Invercargill Hawke's Bay Kaikōura Nelson. Everywhere we're packing the halls and no journalists at all. Do you think that's commentary? Do you think that's fair? Oh they say "We sent somebody." No you didn't. I can show meeting after meeting after meeting where they wouldn't give us any coverage whatsoever.Cushla Tangaere-Manuel: They were there.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh no. Unlike that member—she couldn't fill a telephone booth. But we packed the halls—not enough chairs or anything. My point is: why were they gaslighting us out of the campaign? This is not what a democracy looks like. Whether people agree or not they're entitled to hear as Phil Collins sang they're entitled to "hear both sides of the story". Not one side—both sides of the story.Hon Willie Jackson: Democracy's changed.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: And here's Willie trying to defend them now. He knows in his heart of hearts as he goes from this job very shortly—and he will. Oh no. They're calling it—look when you're in a game and in the end they look around and say "Who's responsible?" and you think to yourself "Maybe it's the guy I'm looking at in the mirror" then the time staying here Willie is not going to work for you. And the sooner you go the better so that somebody can step up and start to rebuild what was once a great party but it's forgotten the workers. They wouldn't know a worker if they fell over one. Totally forgotten the working people of this country.Ladies and gentlemen we got back because we went to the social media and we didn't use any boosters—at all—but we knew out there at least unfiltered and unedited we could get our story away. But had we got a decent go we'd be sitting here with far more than the members we've got now. And that's a fact. Why the Greens never had a meeting. They never had a meeting. They go down to the beach get a few starfish and they're headlining the 6 o'clock news. What was political about that? Pray tell me if you're a media person: what was political about that? Unbelievable—deafening! And they never had any public meetings anywhere in the whole campaign and there they are sitting there.Fa'anānā Efeso Collins: We had plenty in Ōtara.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: But I tell you what Mr Collins—Fa'anānā Efeso Collins: Yep?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: This is the high point. It's going down now. I've been around—I've been around a long time. I know a bunch of losers when I see them. Any money you like—you're going that way because these people want their seats back and they're better organised and they will be when the time comes. So enjoy the next three years try to do the best you can but it won't be long.Ladies and gentlemen can I just say to those in the media who wrote us off and relentlessly attacked us: guess what! New Zealand First is back. Now I know Willie's charmed by this because Willie came to a speech where he was giving a farewell speech that was put on by FOMA the Federation of Māori Authorities—in case people think Māori authorities don't understand how much we've done for them over the years. Willie gave my farewell speech and I said to him: "Willie you're being premature. Anybody who even dreams New Zealand First is going to get beaten should wake up and apologise." So Willie wake up and apologise now.Hon Willie Jackson: Give me another example.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Another example? Well actually Willie having spanned six decades I can give you a few examples. If you know anybody else who has—right? See I respect the people that you should respect like for example Ngata and Pomare and Buck and Carroll. These are political geniuses. Their view of the Treaty of Waitangi is written in the book from 101 years ago by Ngata himself not by these people over here making it up as they dream it up at some sociological class at university. It's balderdash. Oh no you can wave and do all the hongi and put the huia feather in your hair but it doesn't belong there. Ask Ratana. Ask the man himself. What's the huia feather doing on your head? No no the immodesty knows no bounds.I've got to tell you: I'm pleased New Zealand First is back and not a day too soon because that sort of humbug is going to stop. And we're going to go back to calling our country New Zealand. We're not going to have a French Polynesian name that's an insult to everybody in the South Island. And there's a South Island member of Parliament for Te Pāti Māori and he can't even defend his people's name for their part of the country—Te Wai Pounamu is the name; it ain't Aotearoa. Oh but he's too new and too unlearned to even make a defence of it. Did Ngata think that? Did Pomare think that? This genius called Buck who ended up as a major anthropologist—a doctor first and an anthropologist all the way to Hawaii. Did he think that? No. He's my authority. What's yours? What's your authority? They haven't got one. And so no more of this darn humbug and you can put the tā moko on and dance around and carry on in a way that we find very strange because where I come from that's conferred upon you; you don't just paint yourself like some tattoo shop. That's what they're doing.And I saw yesterday—to walk into this place and take over the traditions of a great democracy that's been going since 1854 one of the great democracies of the world.Hon Willie Jackson: I thought it was wonderful!Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Oh Willie thought it was wonderful. No consultation—no. Here comes "Johnny Come Lately"—or in this case "Rawiri Come Lately"—and he's going to design the whole thing anew. I've got news for you sunshine and it's all bad. We've got news for you and it's all bad. We're not putting up with it. And some of us have done far more for Māoridom than you will ever do; that's a fact. Who settled the central North Island Tribes' 14-iwi settlement? Who settled that? The Māori Wardens—who gave them their start? The Māori Women's Welfare League Mt Hikurangi—I could be here all day on what we've done for Māori not like these people: all talk and no action; all talk and no action. And we're not coming back here to listen to this humbug any longer. We want this country to be called New Zealand and if we're going to change the name then we're going to ask all New Zealanders first. We're not going to have a little bunch of the minority who say "We're the Māori voice."Hon Members: Woo hoo!Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: OK so if they're the Māori voice and they got only 3 percent of the vote most of the time and yet they say the Māori people are 18 percent of the population it means that one-sixth of the Māori people might support them and five-sixths don't. How can they call themselves the Māori voice? And why does Willie sit by and allow them to do that? But we knew from the word go that when these people arrived there would be a race to the bottom between Te Pāti Māori and the Māori members of the Labour Party. And that's a tragedy.It's tragic because at the end of the day what we get from that is not what people want out in the Māori world. You know what they want? They want an affordable house. If they feel sick—hopefully not them their parents or their children—they want to get medical treatment as soon as they possibly can and they want to get on the escalators that take you with education as far as you'd want to go. And the fourth thing Māori want is First World wages. These people never even talk about that at all—it's all their highfalutin Auckland University sociology department claptrap—making it up as they go along. And the moment you challenge their authority they start shouting out the easiest most cowardly answer—racist. Oh no we're not.Hon Willie Jackson: Are you not racist?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: No as the founder of the Kōhanga Reo said "Winston is not anti-Māori; he's just anti-nonsense." Remember her name? Leni Kapa said that didn't she? And also somebody's mother said that too.Hon Willie Jackson: My mother!Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Yeah. Somebody's mother said that too. And I wish he was as bright as his mother and paid more attention. Ha ha! You know your mother was a very bright woman and she had high hopes for this party and New Zealand First and all of a sudden her son is going his own way and thinks he's smarter than mum—oh no he's not.I was going to make a lot of statements today but the reality is that we're out to turn this country around. This was an inflection election—make no bones about it. If we'd not got back these three parties we were heading off to be Venezuela or Myanmar. [Interruption] They're there clapping at the back—that's what they want: clearly with no idea that it was once the most successful economy in South America and look at the cot case it is today. Those sorts of policies took them there. Same with Myanmar—after being the most successful economy in Asia—and look what sort of policies took them there. We just got back in time and we're proud to have joined this coalition to save this country.SPEAKER: This is a split call. The first 15 minutes will be taken by Rawiri Waititi and it will be immediately followed by Debbie Ngarewa-Packer."