ACT Calls on Labour, National to rule out coalition with Peters

ACT Leader Rodney Hide today condemned Winston Peters for his racist and xenophobic attacks and called on both Labour and National to rule out any place for Winston Peters in a coalition Government.

“Yet again Winston Peters is attacking ethnic minorities in the run-up to the election. He’s using his position of power to attack the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

“That’s Winston Peters, the racist demagogue. He divides New Zealand, incites racial violence, and breeds intolerance and hate.

“His divide-and-rule politics have no place in New Zealand.

“New Zealanders are a fair-minded and tolerant people. We are outward looking. We don’t judge people by the colour of their skin.

“What Winston Peters is doing is wrong.

“Winston Peters is causing distress here at home. His bigoted and hate-filled politics is damaging New Zealand’s reputation overseas,” Mr Hide said.

“We don’t have to stand idly by while Mr Peters rants and raves to the cost and shame of us all. We can do something about it.

“Mr Peters only has power because National and Labour are prepared to deal with him.

“Mr Peters won’t tell New Zealand who he will support until after the election. He reserves the right to himself to determine who will be Prime Minister. That’s undemocratic. It should be voters who decide the government of New Zealand, not Peters.

“But Peters only has the ability to determine who is Prime Minister if Don Brash and Helen Clark are prepared to play along. They can end his power immediately. They can just rule out dealing with him.

“Labour and National should condemn Mr Peters’ politics and rule out dealing with him. That would neuter Winston Peters and his politics of hatred and division. It would show he has no place in a future government regardless of the election outcome.

“Support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party collapsed once both the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party refused to have anything to do with it. The same should happen to New Zealand First.

“It’s the height of hypocrisy for Helen Clark to say she opposes everything Peters stands for when she’s ready and willing to jump in bed with him after September 17.

“Besides Peters has proved himself time and time again to be toxic to good government. His politics is erratic and revolves around only himself rather than what’s good for the country. New Zealand First anywhere near government is a recipe for chaos.

“For our part, ACT will offer Don Brash our full support in standing up to Peters and rejecting his policies of hatred and division.

“ACT is the party of freedom, choice and prosperity. We are a liberal and tolerant party – the opposite of the Peters’ party.

“ACT is campaigning hard this election to stop Peters. Voters are not just choosing between National and Labour this election. They are choosing the make-up of our Parliament and the next government.

“That’s why ACT’s success this election is so vital. It will ensure the change of government and direction that voters so desperately want – and it will stop Peters dead in his racist tracks,” Mr Hide said.

ENDS

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