Auckland (The NZ Today)
Winston Peters has told supporters that New Zealanders who arrive legally and obey the law should be defended regardless of race, after an audience member at an Invercargill meeting made a disparaging remark about Indian and Chinese migrants.
The exchange came during a public question-and-answer session at Southland Boys’ High School, where Peters was challenged over superannuation eligibility.
A man in the audience complained about the time he had waited to qualify for New Zealand Super and contrasted that with migrants from India and China, using offensive language while doing so.
Peters rejected the racial framing of the question and corrected the claim about how quickly new residents can qualify for superannuation.
He told the crowd that New Zealand First did not support putting down people because of their race.
“If you arrive here legally, and if you observe our laws, you’re entitled to the defence the same as anyone,” Peters said.
The intervention stood out because immigration and race have already become recurring issues during the election campaign, including criticism of earlier comments made by both Peters and NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones.
At the Invercargill meeting, however, Peters drew a firm line between arguing for tougher immigration or citizenship rules and attacking people on the basis of ethnicity.
He used the wider event to promote NZ First’s positions on superannuation, wages, banking, health and foreign affairs, while also taking questions from voters on work visas, ACC, disability services and rural healthcare.
A British-born GP who said she had worked in Southland for 24 years also challenged Peters over NZ First’s proposal to link certain rights more closely to citizenship.
Peters responded by defending the party’s position that people seeking the full benefits of citizenship should take up New Zealand citizenship.
The meeting also touched on fisheries policy, with Peters signalling that NZ First would not automatically support proposals to phase out bottom trawling without further examination.
The Invercargill appearance forms part of Peters’ traditional public-meeting campaign style, with NZ First again relying heavily on face-to-face events around the country.
The strongest moment of the afternoon, however, came when Peters directly rejected the audience member’s attack on Indian and Chinese migrants and told the room that lawful migrants were entitled to equal protection.
Source: NZ Herald reporting from Winston Peters’ Invercargill public meeting.
