Election 2020 – Covid 19 coronavirus: Winston Peters attacks Labor for response

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters relaunched his election campaign at a brewery, but instead of having a drink, he attacked his government partners.

Peters skipped the last day of Parliament today to officially lift the pause button on his election campaign in Brewtown in Upper Hutt.

He concluded the morning’s visit by saying that the Covid-19 outbreak in Auckland was due to Labor ministers being in charge of key areas of the response.

“We could have done better on Covid-19. That is a fact. If we could compare ourselves to Taiwan, we have not done as well as we could have done. We let our guard down.

“Too many things fell through the traps, or through the holes so to speak, that the bureaucracy deliberately left there … The fact is that the labor ministers are the only ones in charge of all that.”

Peters said mistakes were made and “better admitted” even though he sits around the cabinet table and is in Zoom meetings with Labor ministers when many of the important decisions are made. He will be at a cabinet meeting on Friday morning.

He said that if NZ First MPs were in charge, they would have brought in the army much earlier.

“Don’t keep gilding the lily and saying that everyone is fine when they are not fine.

“The tests were not continuing, the surveillance was not continuing, the supervision and scrutiny that should have been carried out by the military were not happening. And no masks were worn.”

Indeed, Peters has implemented a “no mask, no ride” policy on his NZ First campaign bus, but it apparently does not apply to the party leader or deputy leader, Fletcher Tabuteau, who came on board with his face uncovered.

But the couple made the effort to scan the CovidTracer QR codes.

Tabuteau logged into all businesses and Peters at least opened his app in the first place, but it didn’t seem to actually scan.

The couple relaunched their campaign in Brewtown, built in a former Dunlop factory in Upper Hutt, after the election campaign froze last month when New Zealand raised alert levels to contain the resurgence of Covid-19.

The “craft beer theme park” is nearing completion and will house a go-kart track, 10-pin bowling, an ice rink, several bars, a whiskey distillery, breweries, a Sunday school, and a tattoo parlor.

After receiving the roundup of Panhead’s specialty craft beers, Peters admitted that he was not a heavy beer drinker himself as it was too heavy for someone with a sedentary job.

Although he said he liked a very occasional bottle of Asahi.

Peters, also a deputy prime minister, said he would rather return to the campaign than be in parliament on his last day before adjourning.

“It is a waste of time. Unless you use Parliament correctly, it is a theoretical waste of time.”

The NZ First bus will cross the Cook Strait and continue to Nelson today before dropping down to Bluff.

“The main message is that the provinces matter seriously. If you want to make sure Wellington pays attention to the provinces, there is a party to vote for and New Zealand First from that party.

“We have the track record, we’ve been doing it for years and particularly in the last three years.”