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Winston Peters was fired at an event honoring his many decades of service in Parliament tonight, but true to form, he dodged the media in his way.
Diplomats and MPs past and present crowded into a room to celebrate Peters’ long political career.
“He’s been a really important figure on the political scene for a long time,” 1 NEWS political editor Jessica Mutch McKay said from outside the event.
The event was organized by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
1 NEWS cameras were unable to capture Peters entrance as he avoided the fan fee and entered through a side door.
“There are still many questions about the future of New Zealand First and what Peters will do next,” said Mutch McKay.
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Peters has spent four decades wandering the halls of Parliament. Source: 1 NEWS
As NZ First was eliminated in the elections, Peters never had the opportunity to deliver a farewell speech in Parliament.
Tonight’s event will serve to rectify that.
The 75-year-old entered the corridors of power as a young national deputy in 1978.
However, it was not a long term in Parliament, as Peters was removed from his seat in 1981, before returning to the Tauranga seat in 1984.
A dispute with then-Prime Minister Jim Bolger saw it from New Zealand first in 1993, causing a sensation with the Winebox investigation, with Peters carrying “the documents at the center of the indictments to Parliament in a wine box,” according to the National Library. .
He held the balance of power in 1996 before being cut off in a power shift by National’s Jenny Shipley.
In 2017, he assumed the post of deputy prime minister.
“It has been a difficult road for Parliament and, in my case, an extraordinary road,” Peters said 40 years ago at the conclusion of his inaugural address.
“Today I tell the people of my electorate that I will work hard for them, not only in 1979, but year after year, I want to renew that commitment.”
The two-time kingmaker was kicked out of Parliament for the fourth time in this year’s election, after which he addressed his supporters, thanking his voters and volunteers.
“Elections are about democracy, and what the people want, and we must never stop trusting the people we have the privilege of serving in whatever capacity and for as long as it is,” he said.
“For 27 years, there has been a party that has been prepared to question the establishment and challenge the authority and tonight more than ever, that force is still needed. As for the next challenge, we will all have to wait and see.”
