At this stage there is no indication that Winston Peters will step down as Deputy Prime Minister pending the SFO investigation into how the NZ First Foundation has been dealing with donations. Peters has both distanced himself saying he has nothing to do with the foundation, but has also said he knows the foundation has bone nothing wrong and has been doing all the media releases and interviews in relation to the issue.
And there is no indication that Winston Peters is ready to step down as leader of NZ First or to retire from politics. He doesn’t exactly look like an energizer bunny but politically he just keeps on going (with the occasional top up of voter energy after things have gone flat).
But regardless, Newshub decided to do some polling on a replacement NZ First leader – Who Kiwis think should be NZ First leader if Winston Peters stands down
In the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll, voters were asked for their thoughts on who should take over if Peters ever stands down as New Zealand First leader.
Thee results are quite mixed.
- Ron Mark: 17.9%
- Shane Jones: 14.5%
- Tracey Martin: 13.8%
- Fletcher Tabuteau: 3.6%
The three most popular are the three most prominent NZ First MPs. All are ministers. Jones is by far the most visible (he does a lot of attention seeking), but interesting to see Mark top the poll, as he has been a much more quiet worker.
Results from NZ First voters must be suspect as the sample must be quit small, with only 3.6% preferring the party in the poll.
- Ron Mark: 34.4%
- Shane Jones: 18.5%
- Fletcher Tabuteau: 13.6%
- Tracey Martin: 2.9%
So Jones doesn’t seem very popular even amongst the few NZ First voters polled. This doesn’t mean much, but it’s a bit interesting.
Peters has always been leader of NZ First, the Peters is sometimes referred to as Winston First.
Tracey Martin was chosen as deputy leader of NZ First on 14 February 2013.
Ron Mark challenged her and was selected to replace her on 3 July 2015.
Fletcher Tabuteau replaced Mark as leader on 27 February 2018.
Meanwhile Simon Bridges hasn’t ruled out working with Winston Peters forever:
It would be ridiculous making a commitment on this for future elections, so this means less than the replacement leader polling.
Meanwhile the donations story continues to drip feed, despite Peters saying he was slaying a complaint with the police over the ‘theft’ of information from the Foundation he has nothing to do with.
RNZ: NZ First Foundation received tens of thousands of dollars from donors in horse racing industry
The New Zealand First Foundation has been receiving tens of thousands of dollars from donors in the horse racing industry in payments which fall just below the $15,000.01 at which party donations are usually made public.
As racing minister, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has delivered significant benefits to the industry, including millions of dollars of government money spent on tax breaks and scrapping betting levies.
Records viewed by RNZ show one of the big donors was the Lindsay family. Brendan Lindsay sold the plastic storage container business Sistema for $660 million in late 2016 and a year later bought Sir Patrick Hogan’s Cambridge Stud.
Three lots of $15,000 were deposited into the bank account of the New Zealand First Foundation on 11 October, 2018, according to records viewed by RNZ.
One of the donations was in Brendan Lindsay’s own name and one was in the name of his wife, Jo Lindsay. There was a third deposit made that same day listed as Lindsay Invest Donation.
The year before – in the 2017 election year – Brendan Lindsay also donated $15,000. On the same day there is another deposit for $15,000 listed as Lindsay Trust Donation. Both were banked by the New Zealand First Foundation on 5 May, 2017.
Brendan Lindsay told RNZ, via email, that neither he nor his wife were aware of the Foundation.
Spreading payments between related people and entities all just below the disclosure threshold looks designed to avoid the law. Time will tell whether it is actually illegal or not, but can have an appearance of being deliberately deceitful.