Posted on 10/19/2005 9:19:04 PM PDT by NZerFromHK
WINSTON Peters - an outspoken, anti-immigration protectionist who promotes racial profiling of Muslims - will become the public face of New Zealand on the world stage.
New Zealand's wild election ride came to an extraordinary finish last night as Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark cobbled together a bizarre minority government with Mr Peters as Foreign Minister.
Mr Peters, a Maori who is the leader of the New Zealand First party, is the country's most controversial politician.
He has called for immigration to be radically slashed, said the country was being "colonised" by Asians, and proposed that Muslims be racially profiled and generally kept out of New Zealand as a terror threat.
Don Brash, the leader of the National Party, which narrowly missed out on taking government, said the shock appointment was "astonishing -- not just for the New Zealand public but for the whole region which distrusts Winston Peters".
"I think putting him in as minister of foreign affairs does huge damage for our international reputation," Dr Brash said.
During the election campaign, Mr Peters said New Zealand should "get tough" with Australia over trade, attacking its use of quarantine to keep out Kiwi apples. The policy is spelt out as a "priority" for the government in his support agreement with Miss Clark. Mr Peters, who will also be racing minister, will be in an absurd position.
Under the deal with Miss Clark, he will not be in cabinet, and he can criticise or even vote against government policies outside his portfolio.
Miss Clark said Mr Peters's views on foreign policy were "very similar" to those of Labour. However, she said issues of refugees and foreign trade would not be part of his responsibility.
A spokesman for Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer refused to comment on Mr Peters' past, saying Australia had always maintained good relations with New Zealand.
"The issue of who is appointed New Zealand foreign minister is an issue for the New Zealand Government," the spokesman said. "We will be happy to work with whoever the new minister is."
Mr Peters will be part of a government which will skew to the Right, with Miss Clark dumping her traditional ally, the Greens.
After weeks of horse-trading with minor parties since the knife-edge election result on September 17, Miss Clark announced she had reached agreement with NZ First and Peter Dunne's Christian centre-right United Future party.
Mr Dunne has also been rewarded, with a job as Revenue Minister.
Adding to the odd nature of the arrangement, NZ First and United Future, which have seven and three seats respectively, will not formally be part of the coalition but will provide support on confidence and supply motions.
Miss Clark's long-term friend and ally, Jim Anderton, who sits as the lone member of the Progressive Party, will join her in coalition and have a cabinet seat.
Labour won 50 seats in what will be a 121-seat parliament, and with her support agreements, Miss Clark will command the barest of majorities on supply and confidence with 61 seats.
Observers suggested the Government would be inherently rickety and unlikely to last three years, particularly with the volatile Mr Peters and Mr Dunne.
But Miss Clark said: "I have every confidence that these arrangements, which we have been working on slowly for a month, now are durable and will enable us to provide a strong and stable and progressive government for the parliamentary term ahead."
During the election campaign, Mr Peters categorically ruled out any personal participation in a government of any complexion. He and Miss Clark yesterday struggled to present the arrangements as credible. The decision to take the foreign affairs portfolio outside cabinet was quickly attacked by opposition parties as a "political sham" contrived to get Mr Peters off an election promise that NZ First would not go into government.
The NZ First leader last night portrayed his about-face as a response to the Prime Minister's request for him to break a "Mexican stand-off".
Mr Peters' skills will be tested early in the new year when he is expected to front moves to open a dialogue with the US to try to bury the 20-year-old dispute over nuclear ships. But he is unlikely to be brought into play as negotiations on a China free-trade deal -- which he opposes -- are finalised.
P.S. Why don't you engage me as your foreign minister? I am for sure better than this moron and there will be a real "fun-factor" too.
To be honest, people that are really smart or good in heart never get into politics in this country. Most of our politicians won't even be able to be elected as city councillors in cities or villages in other countries.
I can think of some that are (or were) good: Richard Prebble, Roger Douglas, Walter Nash, Don Brash. They are really good and often better than many other ministers in other countries. But they are not the majority, and Winston boy is definitely not in this group.
Don't bother. That is really a global problem.
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