New Zealand Foreign Minister and NZ First leader Winston Peters has launched a blistering attack on Green Party co-leader and “Free Palestine” advocate Chlöe Swarbrick, accusing her of political grandstanding and hypocrisy following recent protests outside his Auckland home.
At a press conference, the Green Party joined families of the three detained New Zealanders to demand urgent government action. Here, Swarbrick called on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to “intervene and ensure their safe return,” accusing the government of moral failure and political cowardice over Israel’s actions.
She argued that New Zealand’s leaders lacked the moral courage of past generations. “Luxon, Seymour and Peters are proving they would not have been the leaders of this country who chose to stand against apartheid South Africa,” she said. “They would not have stood against the French and the United States when it came to a nuclear-free Pacific.”
She also challenged government MPs directly, saying, “All 68 government MPs are personally, individually responsible for whether the bill to sanction Israel progresses or does not. We need just six of them to sign their support to get that bill onto the floor of the House.”
In a strongly worded post on X, Peters said Swarbrick needed to “grow up and get off her ‘holier than thou’ sanctimonious high horse.”
“No one wants to be lectured about ‘morals’ from someone who knows nothing about what’s going on around the world apart from her own arrogantly manufactured ideologically driven political soundbites,” Peters wrote.
“The rest of us live in the real world and make real world decisions based on facts – not made up from your left-wing hyperbole, faux moral outrage, incessant hand wringing, and exaggerated eye-rolling.”
He further accused Swarbrick of hypocrisy, claiming she had stood by as protesters harassed him, his family, and his neighbours with loud hailers outside his St Mary’s Bay home. “Maybe, Chlöe, you should call out the protesters who decided to harass me, my household, and my neighbours at night – instead of standing next to one of them and letting her talk at today’s manufactured press conference,” Peters said.
The Foreign Minister also criticised those who joined the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international protest effort attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Several New Zealanders on board were detained by Israel. “Those individuals in that flotilla knew what they were doing and what was going to happen, but they did it anyway. Shame on them and shame on you,” Peters wrote.
He accused Swarbrick of being “headline hunting” and said taxpayers were now footing the bill for “self-righteous, self-inflicted petulant problems.” He ended his post with a blunt message: “Keep showing New Zealand why you should never be in Cabinet. PS: Experience matters – of which you have none.”
The latest exchange follows a turbulent few months for Swarbrick. In August, she was ‘named’ by Speaker Gerry Brownlee and ejected from Parliament after refusing to withdraw remarks suggesting coalition MPs “grow a spine” and sanction Israel. Her refusal to apologise resulted in a week-long suspension and a pay penalty.
Despite the Speaker’s ruling, Swarbrick maintained that she had already been punished and that other MPs had made worse remarks without consequence. She left the House shouting “Free Palestine.”
Protests in support of the flotilla have continued in Auckland, with police confirming that around 20 demonstrators gathered outside Peters’ home last week. Videos on social media showed protesters waving Palestinian flags, banging drums, and chanting slogans.
Peters condemned such demonstrations as “disgraceful,” adding that “politicians have families and children just like every other Kiwi home. Our families don’t deserve to be harassed and intimidated for any reason.”
He urged New Zealanders to express their views responsibly, saying, “We live in one of the most tolerant democracies in the world, but with that comes the responsibility to be decent and respectful about where and how those rights are exercised.”
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