NZ First ‘not being absorbed by Labour’
Deputy Prime Minster Winston Peters says his party has not been absorbed by Labour, its coalition partner.
His remarks came after prominent MP Shane Jones told TVNZ that NZ First would not tolerate being absorbed by the Labour Party.
‘‘Under the last regime, every minor party was basically absorbed by the bigger organism,’’ Jones said. ‘‘My leader and I, we’re just not going to tolerate being absorbed or completely shaded by the Labour Party.’’
But speaking to media yesterday, Peters disagreed.
NZ First has been noisily distinguishing itself on a number of issues from its larger coalition partner, openly disagreeing on issues such as the trans-Tasman bubble, New Zealand’s alert level, and commercial rent relief.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern this week announced Cabinet would consider moving coronavirus alert levels on Monday.
Peters has been an advocate for moving down the alert scale.
On Tuesday, he called on the Government to consider a move to level 1. Peters cited the lack of social distancing at the weekend’s Black Lives Matter protests as a reason to reconsider New Zealand’s alert level.
He tweeted:
‘‘Protesters in Auckland showing that our team of 5 million are being let down by a small group who think they know better than everyone else. If the authorities allow this to occur then we should be at level 1 tomorrow.’’
The Government is under pressure to answer why the country has not already moved to level 1, when some of its own advice suggests it is safe to do so.
On Wednesday, the National Party was leaked a Cabinet paper saying alert level 1 was ‘‘predicated upon having eliminated chains of transmission and there having been no new cases from community transmission for at least 28 days’’.
Ardern on Wednesday said the last case of community transmission was at the beginning of May – more than 28 days ago.
But a spokesman for the prime minister says the paper refers to a different definition for community transmission, meaning there are still several days to go.