Taking On Winnie
OPINION: No one messes around with Winston Peters, more so in a general election year.
In an exclusive interview with Rural News, Peters pointed out that "careful and highly skillful tip-toe diplomacy" is what's required in the present sensitive environment. He says this is a time when diplomats and foreign ministers need to be super aware, sensitive and alert and hold their counsel.
"It's like walking on glass and there is no place for anyone to make any of the careless mistakes they made five or ten years ago," he told Rural News.
To critics of the US in particular, Peters trots out some facts which he says back up his very measured approach to the Trump administration's controversial policies.
He says if people examined the trade figures for the last 12 months, they would be extraordinarily grateful for the US as some of the commodities we sell them have gone up by 33%. He says if you take the currency rate and everything else, we are on to an absolute winner.
"So how about acknowledging the great part about it and not wanting as someone who has come off a farm asking for rain on a fine day and wishing there was sun on a rainy day. Be thankful about what's going on and just remember when the dust settles, it may be possible that we will be in a much better situation than you have even thought," he says.
Peters says it's time to stop listening to and believing all the alarmist messages.
He says a key focus for him as Minister of Foreign Affairs has been establishing personal contacts in many of the key people in the countries that NZ deals with.
He says in the previous Labour government's term, foreign ministers simply didn't travel and that happened long after Covid. He says the only way to make progress diplomatically is to have personal contact, get them to trust you and your country, and for you to be able to trust them too.
"When we (the coalition) came into office in 2023, we had to get on the road hard and quickly and make up the ground that had been lost, and yes, it has been exhausting, but absolutely necessary," he says.
Peters adds that it's not only about just meeting people, but also the preparation for those meetings. He says it's important to make sure they know exactly what your position is on a given issue - not what they might think it is. He says a critical part of diplomatic meetings is to get a clear and accurate understanding where both sides are coming from and, in our case, how can we help you.
He points to India, the world's largest producer of milk. New Zealand is negotiating a free trade deal with the country.
"In the case of India for example, our message to them is you don't want a bar of NZ agriculture because you have got all these cows, and we have got cows as well. But you need to increase your milk production by 35% over the next 30 years and you cannot do that with the animals you have now. But we can help you with better animals get to where you want to, and we will be a partner in you achieving your objectives," he says.
Peters says as well as meeting fellow politicians, NZ needs to get out into the rural areas of India and talk to people who are directly involved and get them to see the advantages in knocking down trade barriers.
