2020 Election: Send Military Aircraft To The Pacific To Pick Up Seasonal Workers – Peters

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters suggests using military aircraft to bring seasonal workers from the Pacific to New Zealand to work in their orchards.

Peters, who is also New Zealand’s foreign minister, said the New Zealand military could be doing “a lot more” to prevent further economic damage to the horticultural sector.

He made the remarks after a speech at Te Puke tonight, a speech in which he again took aim at Labor, calling his coalition partners the “other side.”

Peters also took credit for one of the government’s most popular Covid-19 trade policies: the small business loan scheme.

In response to a question about the horticulture industry, which has been struggling to find staff to collect its fruit, Peters found a new solution to this problem.

“We may need to bring these people [seasonal workers] out of Vanuatu and out of Tonga and out of the Pacific on military planes to bring them here, “he said.

“They [these countries] They are Covid-free, so they don’t need to go through quarantine. “

He said it has not been possible to bring commercial jets to Pacific countries from New Zealand.

“I think our military could be doing a lot more, and we have to.”

Peters is immersed in campaign mode now, traveling the country on his party’s campaign bus.

And the NZ First leader’s election campaign was on full display tonight when he explained to his followers why they needed to “buy some insurance” with his party’s vote.

He said it was important to have government experience – “If you don’t believe me, explain KiwiBuild?” he rhetorically asked the approximately 50 people present.

Peters said that “the other side” ran KiwiBuild – “and the rest, you know, is history.”

This policy was arguably one of the biggest failures of this government, which did not achieve nearly the number of houses it had promised.

Peters used the same “other side” line when talking about how it was NZ First that brought the Auckland light rail project to a halt in this period in government.

Notably, Peters also took credit for the government’s small loan scheme, a program in which eligible businesses can borrow $ 10,000, interest-free for the first year.

“The extraordinary thing about that ad is that it is not your [Labour’s] politics, it’s ours, “Peters said tonight.

“Our idea has been massively adopted because it works.”

In fact, he revealed that his party and the labor ministers had a “serious discussion” about it.
“Straight to the wire, please,” he told his fans.

He said the argument revolved around how much the support loan should be.

Peters said Labor ministers wanted it to be a $ 60,000 loan; Peters wanted it to be $ 100,000.

And he added that it was NZ First who wanted to add the 3 percent interest rate.
“We said ‘if you can’t perform at 3% … maybe you won’t.”