Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills

EDITORIAL:
Just imagine, for a second, if I sat behind this microphone this morning and the first caller, I repeated something like that to them.
Imagine if I said to them, "go back to your own country".
Not once, not twice, but three times.
Imagine if I said they couldn't possibly understand democracy because they weren't born here, they were born somewhere else.
I'd quite rightly be fired.
There'd be outrage.
I'd be on the front cover of the Post. I would be.
There'd be calls for my organisation to do a public apology.
Yet that is exactly what New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters said in Parliament toGreen MP Dr. Lawrence Xu-Nan.
So when I saw this story yesterday, I genuinely worried whether I'd missed something.
I thought to myself, boy, this is going to be an outcry, boy this is going to be big.
Have suddenly world rules changed? Or do they just actually apply to some people?
I don't want people jumping on me here and telling me that I'm having a crack at Winston Peters and this is all about me and Winston Peters.
I'll be clear. I often agree with Winston Peters and on some issues I think he's 100% right. But that's not the point.
The point is whether the standards we expect in public life apply equally to everyone in every situation.
I've spent decades employing people in hospitality. I've had chefs and staff from all over the world.
Like any employer, I've had disagreements and difficult conversations.
But can you just imagine if I turned around to one of my chefs and said, "go back to your own country".
You don't understand democracy, that's where they lie like a flat fish.
Can you imagine what the Employment Relations Authority would have done to me?
Once again, front page of the paper.
I would have been dragged through the system and my reputation would be gone.
Fortune and legal fees and quite possibly my business.
No employer in New Zealand would get away with saying that to an employee.
So why does it seem different when it's said by one of the country's most senior politicians?
Does parliamentary privilege allow too much?
Dr. Xu-Nan has lived in New Zealand since 1994.
He arrived here as a child, went to school here.
Yet Winston Peters told him to go back to your own country.
Claimed he'd only been here 5 minutes, suggested he knew little about democracy because he was born in China and later doubled down outside the debating chamber calling him an "arrogant twit".
Now forget about whether you like the Greens or Dr. Lawrence Xu-Nan.
Forget about whether you vote Green, National, Labour or New Zealand First.
Ask yourself one question.
If another politician had said exactly those words about someone born overseas, would their reaction have been the same?
Because it seems to me that we've reached a point where we can judge comments not by what is said, but who says them.
Now, Parliament should be the place where ideas are challenged and politics are debated.
It shouldn't be a matter where someone was born.
If you've chosen New Zealand, made your life here and earned your place in Parliament, then challenge the arguments, not whether they belong here.
For me, this isn't about Winston Peters.
It's about consistency.
Either go back to your own country as acceptable in New Zealand politics or it isn't.
Either we have one standard for everyone or we don't.
Maybe you'll tell me it was just the heat of parliamentary debate.
Maybe you'll say he was justified and that's fine.
But I look at this and think if almost anyone else had said those words, anyone, in a workplace, a school, a radio station, or even having a heated argument over something like road rage.
Imagine if I had a road rage this afternoon and said, go back to your own country. Do you think I'd be here tomorrow morning?
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Politics Thursday and Nick Mills is joined on the show this week by Labour MP Ayesha Verrall and National MP for Otaki Tim Costley.
Our political panel address Minister Winston Peters' controversial comments towards a Chinese-Kiwi Green MP in Parliament yesterday. They discuss the standard of behaviour expected, and the rise of racism in the beehive.
Also on the agenda is the Government's acceptance of majority of the Covid-19 Inquiry findings, paid parental leave extension and the dismissal of a fireworks ban.
Plus, why are both parties so quick to dismiss the Opportunities Party?
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EDITORIAL:
Just imagine, for a second, if I sat behind this microphone this morning and the first caller, I repeated something like that to them.
Imagine if I said to them, "go back to your own country".
Not once, not twice, but three times.
Imagine if I said they couldn't possibly understand democracy because they weren't born here, they were born somewhere else.
I'd quite rightly be fired.
There'd be outrage.
I'd be on the front cover of the Post. I would be.
There'd be calls for my organisation to do a public apology.
Yet that is exactly what New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters said in Parliament toGreen MP Dr. Lawrence Xu-Nan.
So when I saw this story yesterday, I genuinely worried whether I'd missed something.
I thought to myself, boy, this is going to be an outcry, boy this is going to be big.
Have suddenly world rules changed? Or do they just actually apply to some people?
I don't want people jumping on me here and telling me that I'm having a crack at Winston Peters and this is all about me and Winston Peters.
I'll be clear. I often agree with Winston Peters and on some issues I think he's 100% right. But that's not the point.
The point is whether the standards we expect in public life apply equally to everyone in every situation.
I've spent decades employing people in hospitality. I've had chefs and staff from all over the world.
Like any employer, I've had disagreements and difficult conversations.
But can you just imagine if I turned around to one of my chefs and said, "go back to your own country".
You don't understand democracy, that's where they lie like a flat fish.
Can you imagine what the Employment Relations Authority would have done to me?
Once again, front page of the paper.
I would have been dragged through the system and my reputation would be gone.
Fortune and legal fees and quite possibly my business.
No employer in New Zealand would get away with saying that to an employee.
So why does it seem different when it's said by one of the country's most senior politicians?
Does parliamentary privilege allow too much?
Dr. Xu-Nan has lived in New Zealand since 1994.
He arrived here as a child, went to school here.
Yet Winston Peters told him to go back to your own country.
Claimed he'd only been here 5 minutes, suggested he knew little about democracy because he was born in China and later doubled down outside the debating chamber calling him an "arrogant twit".
Now forget about whether you like the Greens or Dr. Lawrence Xu-Nan.
Forget about whether you vote Green, National, Labour or New Zealand First.
Ask yourself one question.
If another politician had said exactly those words about someone born overseas, would their reaction have been the same?
Because it seems to me that we've reached a point where we can judge comments not by what is said, but who says them.
Now, Parliament should be the place where ideas are challenged and politics are debated.
It shouldn't be a matter where someone was born.
If you've chosen New Zealand, made your life here and earned your place in Parliament, then challenge the arguments, not whether they belong here.
For me, this isn't about Winston Peters.
It's about consistency.
Either go back to your own country as acceptable in New Zealand politics or it isn't.
Either we have one standard for everyone or we don't.
Maybe you'll tell me it was just the heat of parliamentary debate.
Maybe you'll say he was justified and that's fine.
But I look at this and think if almost anyone else had said those words, anyone, in a workplace, a school, a radio station, or even having a heated argument over something like road rage.
Imagine if I had a road rage this afternoon and said, go back to your own country. Do you think I'd be here tomorrow morning?
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Winston Peters has received backlash from the ambassador of China and former Prime Minister Helen Clark after racist comments made in the house on Wednesday to Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan.
Xu-Nan joins the show with Nick Mills this morning to share his reaction on the remarks, and the behaviour allowed in parliament.
When asked if he thought Peters was being racist, Xu-Nan said "the comments speak for themselves".
He also bought up the lack of accountability from not only Peters, but the Prime Minister as the leader of cabinet.
Xu-Nan said he has received an outpour of support, proving "there is more goodness here in Aotearoa New Zealand than a few comments here and there".
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You will now be able to pay with face ID or hand scans as EFTPOS launch their biometrics payment system in New Zealand this month.
Retail NZ CE Carolyn Young joins the show to share how the rollout is progressing.
When will we be able to see it in stores, and is it affordable for merchants to implement?
She also spoke of benefits another than fast payment, like identification for prescriptions and age verification for alcohol.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.