Priyanca Radhakrishnan takes petition seeking Peters’ removal as foreign minister to Parliament
Winston Peters copped criticism from the left and right for his remarks to Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan.
The Labour MP says presenting a petition does not always mean endorsing it. But this time she agrees with the petitioner.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan has taken to Parliament a petition seeking Winston Peters’ removal as foreign minister over his “go back to your own country” remarks to Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan.
The Indian-origin Labour MP says she did not simply agree to perform the parliamentary formality required for the petition to proceed. She supports what the petitioner is asking for.
“I believe Mr Peters has indeed violated the high ethical standards that the cabinet manual expects of a minister,” Radhakrishnan told Awaaz, a day after she presented the petition on September 2.
The petition stems from Peters’ confrontation with Xu-Nan in Parliament on July 29.
The remarks triggered sustained political criticism and became part of a wider controversy over Peters repeatedly invoking the overseas origins or ethnicity of MPs during political arguments.
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The foreign minister subsequently refused to retreat from the remarks when Xu-Nan questioned him in Parliament.
The petition, started by Michal Zlotkowski, asks the House of Representatives to urge prime minister Christopher Luxon to review whether Peters has met the standards expected of a cabinet minister and, if he has not, remove him as foreign minister.
It also asks Parliament to urge all MPs to uphold standards of respectful and professional conduct. The petition attracted 365 signatures before closing on August 31.
The petitioner argues that cabinet ministers, particularly those representing New Zealand internationally, should demonstrate high standards of professionalism, integrity and respectful conduct.
The petition says Peters’ public statements and conduct in July raised questions about whether those standards had been met and whether his behaviour reflected the values expected of someone representing New Zealand internationally.
A public petition needs an MP to present it to Parliament before it can enter the parliamentary petitions process and be considered by the petitions committee.
Radhakrishnan said an MP agreeing to present a petition should not automatically be interpreted as the MP endorsing the views contained in it.
But she said that distinction did not apply in this case. She agrees with the petitioner’s position and backs the suggestion that Peters should be removed as foreign minister.
Radhakrishnan said she does not personally know the petitioner, Michal Zlotkowski. Members of the public regularly approach her by email asking her to present petitions, and she chooses which requests she is willing to take forward. This petition came to her in the same way.
Xu-Nan had interjected while Peters was speaking during a general debate when the New Zealand First leader turned on the China-born Green MP.
“I noticed you came here five minutes ago. Go back to your own country – that’s where they lie like a flatfish, but they don’t lie like that here, all right?” Peters said.
“This is called a democracy – this is called a democracy, unlike what you’re used to.”
Xu-Nan was born in Tianjin, China, but moved to New Zealand as a child and grew up in East Auckland.
Prime minister Christopher Luxon also defended Xu-Nan’s place in New Zealand politics, saying the Green MP had an equal right to be in Parliament and was a “first class citizen” in the same way as Peters.
“There is no difference. He is a Kiwi and he deserves to talk,” Luxon said, while suggesting Peters was “playing a game” with his rhetoric ahead of the election.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins went further, saying Peters could no longer credibly represent New Zealand internationally.
“He can't continue in that job, he can't credibly represent New Zealand on the world stage,” Hipkins said while ruling out working with Peters and New Zealand First after the election.
