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Regional | Labour Party

Winston Peters attacks Labour government and policies based 'purely on race'

Credit / Newshub

Winston Peters has levelled a blistering attack on the Labour government at NZ First's party conference in Christchurch on Saturday.

"This is one of the worst governments by itself that we have ever, ever seen.

"It's a circus, you talk about economics 101? They can't even work that out."

The former Deputy Prime Minister, who encouraged supporters to get ready for "the comeback trail", is predicting a snap election.

"Now, next election - when I say that, I don't mean next November - it's whenever they fly a yellow flag… when they give up."

Peters said the government is threatening democracy, "And we are not going to waste any more time not calling them out."

He said there is "the demand inside of parliament to change the way this country was constructed. To change one person one vote, to change equality before the law, to change the one law for all."

"They want a dual electoral system, they want a dual health system, they want a dual everything. And they want to have a based oversight purely on the basis of race," Peters said.

The NZ First leader also took issue with moves to rename New Zealand.

"They want without any consent of the people to change the name of the country.

"Whereas here in the South Island, we all know that Aotearoa was never the name for the South Island.

"And for all you South Island Māori - I'm looking to you real hard now - you know that they haven't got any respect for you.

"They're ramming the name of the country down your throat when they know full well it's not even the name for the South Island, but some name dreamt up in the later 1880s."