Double Substandards

Winston Peters, leader of the New Zealand First Party and self-styled anti-immigration voice of apparent reason in Parliament, has issued a shock revelation today in the form of the announcement of his taking up of a new position on the international student issue. He has said he is going to engage in discussions with the Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, in light of the declining numbers of Chinese students that are coming to New Zealand for their educations. The new stance that he appears to have taken up on the issue is, of course, a significant contradiction to the ideas that he has been espousing for the past several years.

Winston has said that the perception of him having very hardline views on immigration -- a perception that has been established both locally and internationally -- is one that has emerged simply as a result of some of his statements being "misconstrued." He is now, apparently, becoming "increasingly concerned" about the falling numbers of international students coming from Asia to New Zealand to partake in their studies. This is despite the statement that Winston issued earlier this year, that "We have now reached the point where you wander down Queen Street in Auckland and wonder if you are in New Zealand or some other country."

It's quite possible that this sudden change in his key stance is a result of Winston's being present in Asia at this point in time. It was something that should have been expected, and by many people undoubtedly was expected, that Winston would alternate his hardline tone a bit whilst overseas. As the Foreign Affairs Minister, he is of course supposed to be representative of the New Zealand government as opposed to himself, despite the fact that New Zealand First is not actually a component of the government proper and that Winston has recently strongly taken to asserting himself as still a part of the opposition. He also doesn't have the tenacity to stride into the Apec meeting in South Korea and declare that New Zealand is undergoing "Asianisation by stealth." That would undoubtedly be a reckless move even by Winstonian standards.

The Herald article gives one the impression that Prime Minister Helen Clark has issued a positive, if somewhat muted response to Winston's apparent one hundred and eighty degree turnaround, quoting her as saying his help is "much appreciated." Needless to say, it is quite possible that she recognises the plainly obvious -- that Winston always intended to draw back his stance whilst in the presence of Asian leaders, and in doing so on this occasion he has maybe gone further back than was expected of him. However, in the end it is still apparent that at his core, Winston is quite something of an ethnic purist. He has asserted that the deals he brokered in the past to bring Chinese students into New Zealand included the request that they return home after completing their educations, and he does not believe that New Zealand has kept that end of the deal.