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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 WELLINGTON 000154 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR STATE FOR EAP/ANP 
PACOM FOR J01E/J2/J233/J5/SJFHQ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM NEW ZEALAND
SUBJECT:  FM PETERS TO ADJUST BEHAVIOR AS ELECTION NEARS 
 
 
WELLINGTON 00000154  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Reftel: Wellington 141 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary.  On April 8, Foreign Minister Winston Peters 
repudiated the China-New Zealand FTA, widely hailed as the premier 
foreign policy accomplishment of Prime Minister Helen Clark's Labour 
Government.  Clark was widely criticized when she appointed Winston 
Peters as New Zealand's Foreign Minister following the 2005 
election.  Since then, Peters has proved his worth in the role, with 
accomplishments such as helping to advance the US-NZ bilateral 
relationship.  Fears that the hard-boiled instincts Peters often 
displays on the domestic political stage would injure New Zealand's 
reputation aboard have not been realized.  However, Peter's 
high-profile rejection of the China FTA may herald a change in his 
approach.  With elections looming and his party's prospects sagging, 
Peters will retreat from his ministerial role and become 
increasingly partisan.  Peters will seek to distinguish his party 
from the Labour Party, which it supports in government, by 
advocating opposing and possibly hostile views of present policy. 
This will test his hitherto good working relationship with Clark, 
despite their mutual professional respect.  End Summary. 
Choice of Peters Made Many Nervous 
---------------------------------- 
¶2. (SBU)  For many New Zealanders Winston Peters is the embodiment 
of: an anti-immigration and protectionist populist; a quick-to-anger 
and bombastic performer; and an enthusiastic baiter of the media. 
It came as no surprise then that Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark's 
decision to give Peters the foreign affairs portfolio soon after the 
2005 election, thus securing his small party's support for her 
Government, was received with much derision.  The critics claimed 
that he would be too unpolished and brazen for the world of 
diplomacy.  They argued that the populist politician who had never 
taken an active interest in foreign affairs couldn't make a 
plausible foreign minister.  Furthermore, they questioned whether it 
was possible have a minister who is not part of the government 
(Peters insisted that he would be a minister but not part of the 
government, a sleight of hand to get around his pre-election promise 
not to join a coalition).  This arrangement, foreign policy experts 
asserted, would damage New Zealand's international relations and 
send mixed messages to capitals around the world.  The reaction of 
the opposition National Party at the time of the appointment - that 
"putting [Peters] as minister of foreign affairs does huge damage to 
New Zealand's international reputation" -  was emblematic of the 
anxiety many New Zealanders had about having Peters as their 
country's top diplomat. 
Nerves Settle Over Time 
----------------------- 
¶3. (SBU)  As Peters warmed to his task as Foreign Minister, however, 
such doubts began to subside.  Despite predictions to the contrary, 
Peters has caused no ugly scenes, offence or uncertainty in foreign 
capitals.   Nor has he damaged New Zealand international reputation 
abroad.  There has been the odd spot of trouble on his watch.  He 
got offside with Clark in February 2007 when he said Iraq would 
slide "into total chaos" if the US withdrew.  He also got into a 
public row with journalists in the office of Senator John McCain in 
July 2006.  Such misdemeanors, however, have not been repeated. 
Personal Attributes Shape Peters' Role 
-------------------------------------- 
¶4. (SBU)  Clark has helped to alleviate these uncertainties by 
shrewdly maximizing Peters' personal strengths.  She has tasked him 
with duties that accentuate his strong suits: public-profile meeting 
and greeting, flying the New Zealand flag, and building personal 
relations with foreign leaders.  Peters is neither a details man nor 
an enthusiastic consumer of lengthy briefing literature. Nonetheless 
he, along with senior minister Phil Goff who is a details man, 
actively contributes to policy development. But ultimately, it is 
Clark who commands New Zealand's foreign policy.  She was, after 
all, nominated by one of New Zealand's leading political 
commentators as New Zealand's "finest foreign policy Prime 
Minister." 
Praised as Key Goals Realized 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Peters identified two main aims for himself when he took 
up his new post: to improve relations with the United States, and to 
do more in the Pacific.  Measured against those two standards, 
Peters has succeeded, probably beyond his or anyone else's 
expectations.  The US-NZ relationship has clearly deepened since 
Peters became Foreign Minister.  The particular strength that Peters 
brings to the bilateral relationship is his aptitude for personal 
diplomacy.  He is credited in New Zealand for crafting an amicable 
working bond with Secretary of State Rice, a relationship that 
former New Zealand ambassador to the US John Wood described it as a 
 
WELLINGTON 00000154  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
"more than useful" relationship.  Peters' warm relationship with 
Ambassador McCormick has also been acknowledged as a positive 
influence on the bilateral relationship.  Although the upward trend 
in the relationship was visible before Peters' became Foreign 
Minister, the majority view is that he has made a special 
contribution to improving relations with the US and justly deserves 
credit. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  In the Pacific, Peters has industriously sought to either 
establish or strengthen relationships with a range of Pacific 
leaders.  He has a genuine commitment to the region, one in which he 
feels particularly at home. (Note. He often holidays in a South 
Pacific and is especially fond of the Cook Islands, to which he 
appointed as New Zealand's High commissioner his former party 
colleague Brian Donnelly in February. End Note.).  Peters has set 
out to remind larger countries what New Zealand is doing in the 
Pacific and how important the Pacific is.  It was Pacific politics, 
in fact, that prompted what was perhaps his boldest individual 
initiative to date.  In November 2006, Peters brokered a meeting in 
Wellington between then Fiji PM Laisenia Qarase and chief of the 
Fiji Defence Force Frank Bainimarama to try to avoid the coup 
Bainimara was threatening. Although Peters' attempt to avert another 
Fijian coup was ultimately unsuccessful, he nonetheless received 
praise for his efforts.  Moreover, despite the claims of some 
observers that success was probably beyond Peters' or New Zealand's 
power to prevent the coup, he did as well as any person could 
possibly do to dissuade Bainimarama. 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Peters has also been praised for his efforts avowedly in 
support of the U.S. to persuade the North Korea regime to implement 
their obligations under the Six Party process and to disestablish 
their nuclear capability. Most recently, he has won kudos for 
securing a significantly enlarged budget for his ministry (Reftel: 
Wellington 141). 
 
Mindset Shift to Domestic Politics 
---------------------------------- 
¶8. (SBU)  Another reason why many of Peters' critics have largely 
been silenced is his ability to change styles between his foreign 
affairs and his domestic political duties.  The fear that the harder 
edged instincts he regularly exhibits on the national stage would 
cross over to the international stage has not come to pass in any 
significant way.  Peters has successfully de-linked his two 
professional identities, as a politician he is frequently bombastic 
and gaudy; as a diplomat he is more measured and, well, diplomatic. 
 
¶9. (SBU)  However, as the election grows closer and he focuses his 
attention more on domestic rather than international concerns, his 
political persona will become increasingly dominate.  As minister he 
must spend long periods overseas while at home his party stagnates 
(his New Zealand First Party is presently very low in the polls). 
This problem becomes more acute in election year.  Peters, however, 
knows how to revive it.  He will drastically reduce his foreign 
travel and ramp up the populism.  He also knows that working the 
diplomatic circuit overseas will not easily translate in votes at 
home so he will look to other ways to revive his sagging political 
fortunes. 
To Back Away from Labour as Election Nears 
------------------------------------------ 
¶10. (SBU)  The relationship between Peters and Clark has thus far 
been professional and mutually respectful.  She has supported him, 
and he has supported Labour.  But as the election grows nearer this 
relationship will likely be tested as Peters seeks to differentiate 
his party from an unpopular Labour Party by becoming increasingly 
politically independent, perhaps even openly hostile, to current 
policy.  With his political future at stake, Peters will inevitably 
try to distinguish himself on one or two issues, promising to keep 
National and Labour honest, and get enough party votes to get over 
the five percent barrier needed to secure a return to parliament. 
(Note. Most pundits believe that Peters is unlikely to win back the 
electorate seat he lost in 2005, another way of returning to 
parliament, and will instead focus on getting his party above the 
five percent threshold to win one or more seats on the proportional 
party list. End Note). 
¶11. (SBU)  One issue Peters is expected to address in order to 
distinguish himself from Labour is immigration. Peters' party 
deputy, Peter Brown, has already called New Zealand's growing Asian 
population forecast "horrible" and has also criticized New Zealand's 
"open immigration policies." Attacking the strength, of lack thereof 
in his view, of the Government's immigration policy has garnered 
support for Peters in past elections, and he is expected to repeat 
 
WELLINGTON 00000154  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
the dose for the upcoming election.  Clark, as a liberal social 
democrat, particularly despises anti-immigration electioneering 
campaign theme. 
The Rise of Peters the Protectionist 
------------------------------------ 
¶12. (SBU)  As Foreign Minister, Peters presides over a Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs and Trade that, under Trade Minister Phil Goff, 
enthusiastically advances the causes of trade liberalization and 
globalization.  As politician, however, Peters is an economic 
nationalist who has long argued that trading with low-wage 
economies, like China, jeopardizes New Zealand jobs and industries. 
His recent criticism, therefore, of the FTA with China came as no 
surprise. Although support for the China FTA is growing among New 
Zealanders, some are still harbor concerns about the impact the deal 
might have job security.  In an effort to appeal to these concerns, 
as the election approaches Peters will make his protectionist 
leanings more prominent and refer often to his doubts about the 
quality of the FTA with China.  Peters' began expressing his 
opposition to the China FTA as soon as it was signed, and his stance 
revived criticism of Peters' minister-outside-of-government status 
and the freedom it allows him to speak out against certain 
Government policies.  Although Clark has largely weathered Peters' 
opposition to the China FTA and the media criticism for allowing him 
to do so, she should expect more of both during the election 
campaign. 
Comment: The Master Chameleon 
----------------------------- 
¶13. (SBU)  Overall, Peters has proved to be an adept and disciplined 
Foreign Minister.  As minister he has been ready to listen to MFAT, 
according to his political Chief of Staff, but also keen to propose 
and advance initiatives of his own.  But as a party leader he can 
also go tub-thumping and bombastic.  His 
minister-outside-of-government status, although somewhat 
controversial, has become a rock solid device that allows Peters 
live a political double life without damaging his party's 
relationship with Labour.  However, if he repeats the themes of 
previous campaigns and inflammatory rhetoric of past electioneering, 
as expected, that double life will be put to the test.  The major 
point of distinction here is that is past elections he was not 
'part' of any Government.  No Labour minister could get away with 
what Peters gets away with, such as his open hostility towards the 
trade deal with China; some have been dumped for far lesser 
transgressions.  Clark has valued loyalty above all else in her 
government, and it is an open question how far Clark will let Peters 
attack Government policy as election time draws near.  Two key 
factors will, however, moderate any breach of the Peters-Clark 
relationship: she needs to keep his party's support to govern; she 
knows he is also being mooted by National as a possible governing 
partner and Foreign Minister.  Nonetheless, there are likely to be 
some awkward moments for Peters as he gradually shifts from his 
ministerial role and revives his populist theatrics in order to 
actively distinguish his party from Labour.  He will need every 
political skill he's gleaned or honed to make it work. However, if 
there is one New Zealand politician capable of doing this it is 
Winston Peters. End Comment. 
McCormick