Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Hawaii leading a delegation excursion between parts of the Pacific.
Photo: Provided
The Foreign Minister is no longer commenting on his criticism of the “Military Language” as “War of Commerce”, saying he will deal with domestic issues when he is back in New Zealand.
Winston Peters criticized Prime Minister Christopher Luxon for not consulting him before calling the world leaders to discuss trade, and said part of the language used was “hysterical” and “myope”.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister underestimated the suggestions of a breach between him and his deputy about trade, saying it was a “media emergence” and all his ministers were on the same page, because they didn’t want to see a trade war.
“We have a very consistent position around tariffs and trade war,” said Luxon. “What we are saying very clearly is that we do not think this is in the interest of New Zealand. We are all aligned with it. We are all aligned with having a cool, calm and collected approach, which is what we did over the past week.”
When asked why he did not consult the Minister of Foreign Affairs before making a Foreign Affairs speech last week, Luxon said he was talking about trade.
The speech on the Beehive website is entitled “‘Discourse on Foreign Relations and Trade'”.
Luxon said there were several ministers involved in the government’s “commercial agenda”, including himself, Peters, Todd McClay, Nicola Willis and Judith Collins.
“I do not expect to be consulted about all decisions, every speech of any minister, and certainly does not plan to pass my speeches beyond all other ministers as well.”
In Hawaii, Peters was asked more about the comments, but told RNZ Pacific that he was dealing with “foreign affairs” while he was abroad and would deal with “household affairs” when he was back.
“You say to the press gallery at home, I’m in Hawaii now, dealing with our offshore problems and when I go home, I’ll deal with their home problems. Put it that way, because you’re much more important here, finding out what’s happening in Hawaii than answering them.
Could take months to be played – Finance Minister
Finance Minister Nicola Willis echoed Luxon, saying that the government wanted to be calm, calm and collected from the rapidly changing global commercial situation.
Talking to RNZ’s First On Tuesday, Willis didn’t say if she thought it was a trade war.
“I think this is something that will happen over days, weeks and possibly months, and what we saw last week is changing position quickly every day.”
She said it was important not to exaggerately to react to anything, “but continuing to pursue the interests of our exporters, continue to promote free trade, and do everything we can to ensure that New Zealand comes as much as possible.”
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