Morgan v Peters at Ratana

Winston Peters has schooled aspiring MP Gareth Morgan in political sledging and compared him to a ‘‘thinned-down version of Kim Dotcom’’.

High-profile philanthropist Morgan came out firing in his speech to elders at Ratana Pa yesterday, saying Peters’ ‘‘Cheshire cat grin doesn’t disguise the fact NZ First is selling Maori down the river’’.

Morgan, who has founded The Opportunities Party, told attendees that ‘‘honouring the Treaty of Waitangi should be central to the unique identity of being a New Zealander’’.

He said he couldn’t understand why Maori let Peters get away with an anti-Treaty attitude.

‘‘It seems to me that Peters gets away with this anti-Treaty stuff because he’s Maori.

‘‘He has no empathy with the situation that Maori find themselves in. I can’t understand why Maori don’t stand up and call Winston out for being nothing more than an Uncle Tom,’’ he said.

Morgan is proposing that an upper house be established in Parliament to ensure sovereignty is held by Parliament, not Cabinet.

Peters was quick to shoot down Morgan’s criticisms.

‘‘Excuse me for laughing, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been ravaged by a toothless sheep,’’ Peters said in his pitch to Ratana.

‘‘We need to have a memory of what went on here, not just be somebody that’s been riding goats around Mongolia, ah, bikes around Mongolia for the last 30 years, and says, ‘I know what I’ll do’ – a thinned-down version of Kim Dotcom.

‘‘If these people think they can take over power in this country, then we’re in a serious crisis ...‘‘

Peters later said Morgan was just ‘‘looking for a headline’’ with his comments.