Peters delivers humour, scorn
IMMIGRATION, superannuation and a swipe at University of Otago students were all part of the day for New Zealand First leader Winston Peters during his visit to Dunedin yesterday.
Mr Peters started his day addressing about 90 mainly older people at Forbury Park, where he admitted often to deviating from his prepared speech.
The audience lapped up every word, every slight he poked at National and Labour and every clever retort to a comment from the audience.
There was plenty of audience participation during the address organised by Grey Power and the jokes flew thick and fast.
When he told the audience his parents had 11 children, one woman called out: ‘‘No TV’’. At that stage, Mr Peters dissolved into laughter, along with the rest of the audience.
However, he did have some serious messages for those present, particularly around immigration and the sustainability of superannuation which were inextricably linked, Mr Peters said.
Taking fewer immigrants, such as 10,000 a year of highly skilled people, rather than the close to 72,000 New Zealand took each year, meant superannuation was affordable.
He accused other party MPs of being ‘‘gutless’’ for not admitting New Zealand was taking far too many immigrants who were then soon eligible for full superannuation and benefit entitlements at the expense of people such as those in the audience.
‘‘Other parties cannot be trusted on superannuation. I am not mincing my words here. On superannuation, there is one party who has stood up for you longterm. You have to remember how perilous superannuation is.
‘‘If you have been working for 40 or 50 years, you should be entitled to retire with a sense of grace, not made to feel like a bludger. Half of politicians say you are not affordable but not one can tell you why. You are affordable,’’ he said.
It appears from comments made
by Mr Peters NZ First will be very cautious about releasing policy before the election, indicating he did not want other parties to take credit for his party’s policy development.
Mr Peters later went to the University of Otago, where he singled out student magazine Critic for some special criticism.
A recent headline said: ‘‘Winnie Blues: Winston Peters on yet another antiimmigration rant’’.
‘‘First question, who was the unreconstructed, four flushing
moron that wrote that article? Second question, and how did he or she get into this university?’’
Mr Peters took exception to NZ First talking about immigration being described as a ‘‘rant’’.
‘‘Despite all the downsides of mass immigration where students are concerned — high student rents, crammed accommodation, tens of thousands from overseas with work permits competing for your work and depressed wages and conditions — someone at this university wrote that article.’’