Peters, Winston

Young years, family, education

Winston Raymond Peters was born on April 11, 1945 at the Fangarei Hospital on North Island in New Zealand ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} . He became the fifth of 11 children in the family of the carpenter Kihirini "Lena" ("Leonard") Peters (1906-1991) and his wife Joan Merle, nee McInns (1911-2008) ^{[7] [3] [4] [6] [8 ] [9] [10]} . Father by nationality is Maori from Iwi , and his mother is Scottish descent from the Mackins clan ^{[3] [4] [11]} . At birth it was recorded as W y nston ^[6] , being named after British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ^[12] , and at the same time born the day before the death of US President Franklin Roosevelt and a month before the end of World War II ^[6] . Winston had six brothers - , , Wayne, Ronald, Alan, David; and four sisters - Mary, Lynette, Beverly, Heather ^{[3] [8] [12]} . Three of them, including Winston, became prominent New Zealand politicians and members of parliament ^[8] .

Parents kept a large dairy and meat farm and lived in a family house on the coast near ^{[13] [14] [15] [16]} . For example, in 1960 alone, they kept 250 cows and 250 pigs ^[17] . Every morning and evening, the children helped milk the cows ^{[14] [17] [18]} ; nevertheless, subsequently, Peters recalled his childhood as idyllic and happy - went fishing , surfing , and became interested in horse riding ^{[14] [18]} . In childhood, he suffered from stuttering , but was able to cope with the disease ^[6] . In his youth, he was little interested in the language and because of the active policy of assimilation , which contributed to their integration into the Europeanized New Zealand Pakekh society ^[19] .

He studied at High School, Fangarei High School for Boys and Dargaville High School ^{[20] [4] [13] [21]} . Every day, I rode three buses 30 kilometers to school, unlike my brothers and sisters who lived in a boarding school ^[18] . After graduating , he joined the High School in Auckland in 1966, where he spent about a year ^{[20] [6] [13]} . Having saved money, he entered the University of Auckland , where he received a bachelor of arts degree in history and political studies ^{[6] [13] [18] [21]} . During his studies, in 1968, at the request of he joined the organization, the youth wing of the ruling center-right National Party of New Zealand ^{[6] [21] [22]} .

In 1970, he left for Australia to earn money, where he was a blast furnace worker at the BHP plant in Newcastle and a second-class tunnel in the Snowy Mountains at the Reservoir ^{[23] [4] [18] [24] [25]} . Being actually a miner ^[24] , he took double shifts 16 hours a day and earned 900 dollars a week ^[13] . Subsequently, he noted: “I would not say that I built Australia, but I contributed my share” ^[18] . Having saved enough money, he returned to New Zealand and continued his education at Auckland University, where he began to study law ^{[6] [13]} . Winston, like his brothers Ron, Wayne and Allan, played rugby ^{[26] [27] [16]} . Occupying the and , he was a member of the University of Auckland team, captain of the Auckland Rugby Maori team and played two games for the New Zealand Rugby Maori team ^{[4] [13] [28 ] ]} . In 1973 he graduated from the university with a bachelor of law degree ^{[13] [21] [28]} .

In 1974-1978 he worked as a lawyer in the law firm ^{[6] [21] [25]} . As a partner, he held legal practice in Auckland, where he acted as a barrister and solicitor ^{[29] [28]} . Subsequently, he recalled that “he specialized in ensuring that people do not pinch my clients” ^[18] .

Political career

Start

In 1974, the Bill Rowling developed a plan to create coastal land reserves by forcibly taking tribal land from Maori for subsequent purchase by the population. The descendants of the Europeans owned 90 percent of the coastal lands in the Fangarei region, and the Maori - 10 percent, but 90 percent of the land intended for acquisition of land was the property of Ivi Ngati-vai. Ivy members turned to Peters for help, who became the leader of the land retention committee and actually led the against government measures. The campaign launched by him inspired the Maori to conduct a land march to the capital of the country under the leadership of Fina Cooper , defender of the Treaty of Waitangi and a real symbol of protests, as a result of which the government did not get a single land of ivi ^{[4] [25] [30] [31]} .

In the same year that Robert Muldoon became prime minister , Peters made his federal debut by running for the National Party in in ^{[32] [4] [6] [33 ]} . Over the past few years, becoming the first national candidate in this impregnable , in which Labor has continuously won since 1938, Peters scored 1873 votes and lost to with 5988 votes ^{[34] [32] [6] [35]} . Without losing political capital gained during the election campaign, Peters was able to gain a foothold in the party ^{[32] [6]} , and in 1976-1978 even was a member of its Executive Dominion ^{[13] [21]} . Thus, he became the representative of a whole generation of New Zealand lawyers who have chosen a political career ^[36] .

In 1978, Peters for in the , where he was opposed by current Labor MP , son, and brother ^{[6] [37]} . Douglas was re-elected with 7935 votes, 301 votes more than Peters with 7634 votes, who alleged violations of the ballot and, with the help of lawyer Paul Thamm, filed a complaint with the ^{[38] [37] [39] [40]} . With the filing of his party comrades, Peters took advantage of a loophole in the electoral law . According to the Election Act, voters had to cast their votes by striking out the cells opposite all the candidates on the ballot paper, with the exception of those they supported. Some voters made it easier and ticked the checkmark opposite their candidate, and their votes were registered by members of the Hunua constituency election commission, proceeding from the fact that the choice of the voter is absolutely clear and such a "technical" violation of the law should not lead to the cancellation of the final vote throughout the constituency. Peters argued that the law is the law and voters must vote as indicated, and if they did not, then the votes should be considered invalid and must be nullified ^{[38] [39] [41]} . Six months after the election, on May 11, 1979, the court sided with him, declaring 560 votes invalid, with the result that Peters with 7507 votes was declared victorious over Douglas, who now had only 7315 votes with a difference of 192 votes ^{[42] [39] [43]} . On May 24, Peters received the mandate of a Member of Parliament of the New Zealand Parliament of the , and his term of office began to be calculated from the date of the election, that is, from November 25 last year ^{[44] [39] [43] [45]} . Throughout his term, Peters followed the party’s line on major national issues, which radically diverged from the interests of his electorate ^[6] .

On November 28, 1981, Peters , losing to ^{[6] [45]} . Earlier, in 1977, Moyle himself was to resign from parliament because of Muldoon’s allegations of homosexuality. ^[46] During the election campaign, Peters behaved with utmost respect, but after the election he accused the media of not asking Moyle questions that he himself hadn’t asked about ^[6] . After the defeat, Peters returned to legal practice and founded his own firm in , with eight employees ^{[13] [21]} . In 1984, he tried to qualify for candidates from County, but lost. ^[6] However, on July 14 of that year, he was able to into the , this time from County, where he replaced his outgoing party member ^{[6] [33] [45]} . After that, Peters was appointed National Party for Māori, Consumer Rights, and Transport (1984-1987) ^[45] .

At a parliamentary meeting on December 16, 1986, Peters made public the circumstances , which was that , led by was illegally raising funds for Māori development abroad, managing to raise about 600 million New Zealand dollars ^{[47] [48] [49] [6]} . He received this information from his informant in the ministry of businessman Rocky Cribb, but refused to share the full data with the or the Jim Bolger , who subsequently somewhat exaggerated the scale of the scam ^{[48] [49]} . The promulgation of the loan case helped advance Peters' political career — he became the and parliamentary representative of the National Maori Party, Racial Relations and Employment (1987-1990) ^{[50] [6] [33] [45]} . On August 15, 1987, Peters was to ^{[6] [45]} . By 1988, it had become so popular that according to surveys, 38 percent of the members of the National Party wanted Peters to lead the party instead of Bolger with 32 percent ^[6] . Peters began to criticize his party members, came into conflict with party spokesman , and gradually turned to harsher terms, saying that there was a "chronic lack of political leadership" in New Zealand that was "not an exclusive sphere of Labor party ”, due to which he lost the posts of the parliamentary representative of the party and ceased to be a front-bench man ^{[6] [45]} .

As Minister of Maori Affairs

Thanks to its political platform, which was pragmatic conservatism in combination with the ideas of anti-immigration policy and economic nationalism, Peters enjoyed considerable support from both Maori and non-Maori ^[51] . On October 27, 1990, he was to the , gaining more votes than other candidates from the National Party ^{[6] [45]} . On November 2 of the same year, Peters was appointed in the , the first for Bolger ^{[52] [6] [45] [53]} . In this position, Peters was succeeded by Vetere, who had previously refused to resign after the “Maori loan case” ^{[6] [54]} .

In January 1991, the decision of Peters established a ministerial planning group to develop recommendations for improving public policy on issues related to Māori, in particular in the socio-economic sphere ^{[55] [56] [57]} . In March 1991, co-authored with his ministry colleagues, he released the Ka Avatea (New Dawn) report, which proposed combining the Maori Ministry and the Iwi Transition Agency, establishing a new structure called ( Maori Development Ministry) ^{[55] [58] [57]} . Peters suggested that the ministry would play an “important role in the proactive development of Māori politics,” focusing mainly on education, health, employment, and entrepreneurship to bridge the statistical gap between Māori and Pakekha in these matters ^{[55] [57]} . The plan was approved by the Maori leaders, but was only implemented in January 1992 under the supervision of the Executive Director of the Ministry, , already after the resignation of Peters ^{[59] [57]} .

Intra-party conflict, the creation of one's own party

Influenced by Richardson, who became , the Bolger Government continued the former Labor Government on to benefit the free market ^{[60] [61]} . Peters, along with other national deputies and , constantly criticized both the party style of Bolger’s leadership and his government’s policies in the fields of economics, privatization, social services, immigration, and the management of state enterprises abroad. ^{[62] [60] [63] [64] [65] [66]} . В конце концов, спустя 11 месяцев, 1 октября 1991 года Болджер вызвал Питерса к себе в кабинет на 9-м этаже офиса премьер-министра и сказал, что решил изменить состав правительства, но его самого там уже не будет ^{[67] [6] [65] [66]} . Увольнение Питерса за «нарушение принципа коллективной ответственности» было замаскировано под кадровые перестановки в качестве лишь одного из нескольких изменений в составе кабинета министров ^{[68] [57]} . 3 октября новым министром по делам маори стал ^[69] , который не владел языком маори и к тому же стал первым не-маори в этой должности за последние 20 лет ^[70] . На увольнение Питерса и назначение Кидда маори всех иви отреагировали протестным маршем во главе с 96-летней Финой Купер, передвигавшейся на инвалидной коляске, и смогли занять резиденцию Болджера, потребовав у него объяснений данным решениям ^{[71] [70] [72]} .

Увольнение позволило Питерсу быть ещё более откровенным в отношениях с партией, которую он продолжил критиковать, даже оставшись заднескамеечником ^{[60] [18]} . В октябре 1992 года по причине «утраты доверия» он был исключен из партийного кокуса большинством голосов его членов ^{[65] [66] [73] [74] [75]} . После того как управляющий совет партии наложил запрет на выдвижение Питерса на будущих выборах по округу Тауранга, в феврале 1993 года он подал в Верховный суд, указав в качестве ответчика её президента ^{[67] [76] [6] [18] [75]} . Судья постановил, что внутренние решения политических партий должны рассматриваться исключительно как вопрос договорённостей между членами партии и не поддаваться судебному регулированию в области общественного права ^{[77] [78]} . Фактически проиграв дело, 18 марта Питерс подал в отставку с должности депутата парламента при условии организации , на которое правительство ответило согласием ^{[60] [67] [6] [45] [74]} . В Лейбористской и Национальной партиях отказались выставить своих кандидатов, поняв, что не смогут ничего противопоставить его авторитету в этом округе ^{[60] [6]} . 17 апреля, будучи независимым кандидатом, Питерс одержал победу и вернулся в парламент, получив более 90 процентов голосов ^{[67] [6] [18] [45] [65] [66]} . Три месяца спустя, 18 июля в в Окленде Питерс объявил о создании в Новой Зеландии новой — « New Zealand First » ^{[6] [45] [65] [79]} . Тогда же он стал лидером партии и с тех пор бессменно возглавляет её в течение 25 лет ^{[80] [81]} . 6 ноября он был в , победив кандидата от националов ^[45] . Так как «NZ First» получила 8 процентов голосов, всего в тот год в парламент прошло только два члена партии: вторым оказался , победивший в округе действующего депутата-лейбориста ^{[82] [83] [6] [84]} .

Becoming a deputy again, Peters returned to vigorous activity. Back in August 1992, he called for an investigation into alleged patronage by the and and the merchant bank , accusing them of tax evasion through offshore in the Cook Islands . Documents confirming the allegations were received by Peters from computer broker Eduard White, who bought several dozen computers from Citibank Auckland and found floppy disks on them containing details of bank accounts of some politicians and companies that laundered money abroad. In September of the same year, White died under mysterious circumstances and was found dead in his wrecked car at the . The data of White and Peters were confirmed by journalist , who conducted his own investigation and proved the conduct of some banking operations. Finally, in March 1994, from the 17th attempt, Peters was able to present to the House of Representatives documents in a cardboard box from a bottle of wine, so the got its name. As a result of Peters' persistent insistence, in September 1994, the Governor-General established a commission of inquiry into the circumstances of the case, led by . The commission’s final report, released in August 1997, noted that all the suspects acted within the law, even if they had not paid several hundred million dollars in taxes. Peters, with the help of attorney appealed this decision to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the findings of the commission should not be challenged in court for different interpretations of the law. The court of appeal reversed this decision, and the case was again referred to the Supreme Court, in which it was established that the findings of the commission were made in violation of the law. After that, the Department of Internal Revenue opened a case of collusion between Fay Richwhite and Bank of New Zealand between 1989 and 1993 for tax evasion on a number of transactions, including those that appeared in White and Peters documents. However, the Supreme Court in the person of Judge Andrew McGechan did not satisfy the lawsuit ^{[85] [86] [87] [6] [88] [89] [90] [91] [92] [93] [94] [95]} .

In 1973, he married Louise Amy, a primary school teacher ^{[6] [96]} . They had two children: son Joel and daughter Bree ^{[16] [96]} . In 1995, divorced ^{[37] [96]} . He now lives in partnership with Jan Trotman in a multi-million dollar three-story building near overlooking ^{[16] [97]} . He also owns a house with a plot of land in Vananaki ^[98] .

Mother died in 2008 at the age of 96 in a family house in Vananaki on the 15th anniversary of the founding of “New Zealand First” and on the eve of the party conference ^{[99] [100]} . A year earlier, Joan Peters, as the mother of 11 taxpayers, who worked almost her entire life, became the owner of the first SuperGold card, introduced for older people by agreement of the New Zealand First and the Labor Party ^{[101] [102]} . She was buried in a local cemetery, while her father rests on a family at Vananaki Bay ^[16] .

He drank and smoked, but quit ^{[14] [16]} . Likes fishing in Vananaki ^[14] . He is on friendly terms with , , , and former Ministers of the New Zealand government whom he met back in the 1970s ^[16] . A close friend is fellow party member who holds several ministerial posts in the Ardern government ^{[15] [103]} .

• Appointment to Her Majesty the Privy Council with the title " Honorable " (May 21, 1998) ^{[104] [105]} .

• Winston Peters (Neopr.) . Twitter
• Winston Peters (Neopr.) . .
• Winston Peters (Neopr.) . .
• Winston Peters (Neopr.) . Parliament of New Zealand .