Winston Peters

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Winston Peters (2008)

Winston Raymond Peters ( Maori : Winitana Pita ; born April 11, 1945 in Whangarei , Northland ) is a New Zealand politician . He has been chairman of the New Zealand First (NZ First) party he founded since 1993 . He was Deputy Prime Minister from 1996 to 1998 and Foreign Minister of New Zealand from 2005 to 2008. Since October 2017 he has held both offices again.

biography

Peters, son of Māori Kihirini "Len" Peters and a Scottish mother, Joan Merle McInnes (1911–2008), studied history , political science and law after attending Whangarei Boys' High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA ) and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.). He then worked as a teacher and as a lawyer .

He began his political career as a candidate for the New Zealand National Party (NP) in 1978 with the election to the House of Representatives , in which he represented the constituency of Hunua until 1981 . He was then again from 1984 to 2005 a member of the House of Representatives, representing the constituency of Tauranga . Most recently he was a member of the executive committee of the NP group in the opposition (Opposition Front Bench) between 1987 and 1990 .

In November 1990, he was selected by Prime Minister Jim Bolger as Minister for the Affairs of Maori (Maori Affairs Minister of) appointed to the government. In 1993 Peters, who is also a member of the Ratana movement , resigned from the NP and founded New Zealand First , which he has been chairman of since then and which formed a coalition with the NP. As part of a government reshuffle, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer by Bolger in December 1996 and held this position under Bolger's successor, Jenny Shipley, until August 1998.

In 2005, Peters became Secretary of State for New Zealand . Although his party had to cope with considerable losses in the General Election of 2005 and just got over the five percent hurdle with 5.72% , it came into government participation with Labor because the New Zealand Labor Party does not have a sufficient majority in parliament decreed. Peter's party signed an agreement that promised the Labor Party government support, as a coalition was out of the question due to the very different political ideas of the two parties. Peters became foreign minister without formally belonging to the cabinet . Peters had also lost his direct mandate from 2002 and only entered the House of Representatives through his party's electoral list.

On August 29, 2008, he was forced to resign as Foreign Minister under public pressure after the Serious Fraud Office opened an investigation into him for fraud related to party donations to his party and he presented a public confusion. Although he could not be proven to have committed criminal behavior, his public behavior damaged his reputation. The House of Representatives issued a reprimand against him in September 2008. After New Zealand First failed in the parliamentary elections in November 2008 with only 4.07% of the 5% hurdle and thus lost all seats in the House of Representatives, Peters left politics. Back on the political stage, Peters ran for the parliamentary elections on November 26, 2011 and came back into parliament via the list of his party, which with 6.8% cleared the 5% hurdle. This was possible, and the political commentators in New Zealand were in agreement, probably through a public conversation over a cup of tea in a café between the New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key and the candidate of the ACT New Zealand party , John Banks , which led to a scandal was shortly before the election.

After the general election in September 2017 , NZ First again partnered with the Labor Party, this time as a real governing coalition. As a result, Peters was reappointed Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, unlike 2005-08, he is also an official member of Jacinda Ardern's cabinet .

Peter's older brother Ian Peters was a representative of the NP between 1990 and 1993 also a member of the House of Representatives for the constituency of Tongariro , while the eldest brother Jim Peters also represented New Zealand First as a member of the House of Representatives from 2002 to 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ About New Zealand First . New Zealand First , archived from the original on May 21, 2010 ; accessed on September 21, 2014 (English, original website no longer available).
  2. ^ Editorial: Nation has had its fill of Peters , New Zealand Herald, October 31, 2008, Online Edition: [1] - (accessed May 19, 2010)
  3. ^ Results of the 2008 General Election . Electoral Commission New Zealand , January 29, 2013, accessed January 22, 2016 .
  4. ^ Cup of tea credited for Winston's return . Television New Zealand (TVNZ) November 27, 2011, archived from the original on December 30, 2011 ; accessed on January 22, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
  5. ^ Election 2011: Twists in the cup-of-tea seat . New Zealand Herald - Online Edition , November 17, 2011, accessed November 26, 2011 .
personal data
SURNAME Peters, Winston
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peters, Winston Raymond (full name); Pita, Winitana
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand politician
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Whangarei , Northland