NZ First leader Winston Peters stood his ground during an appearance on RNZ’s Morning Report, clashing with host John Campbell over the decision to abstain from a UN pandemic declaration.
Peters argued New Zealand shouldn’t hand decision making power to international bodies, saying: “We don’t want critical decisions like this being made in some part of Europe or some part of the UN”.
When Campbell accused Peters of playing to his base, Peters fired back “You’re the one being performative”.
Peters maintained that signing the declaration with a list of caveats would be pointless, arguing that international agreements can gradually erode national decision-making. “They should be made by the sovereign democracy of New Zealand,” he said.
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