Winston Peters is one of the famous Politician, who was born on the memorable day of April 10 in the year 1945. Winston Peters is a proud citizen of New Zealand.
New Zealand politician who founded the New Zealand First party in 1993. He was Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998.
Over the years, not only have skills been honed, but a significant impact has also been made in the professional field. Whether it's through work, public appearances, or contributions to the community, Winston Peters continues to be an inspiration for many.
Personal Information
Details about Winston Peters
Popular As:
Winston Peters
First Name:
Winston
Last Name:
Peters
Gender:
Male
Birthday:
April 10
Birth Year:
1945
Age:
78-years
Mother:
Joan Peters
Siblings:
Jim Peters, Ron Peters, Allan Peters, Heather Peters, MORE
Education:
University of Auckland
Career
He attended the University of Auckland and worked as a lawyer and a teacher before entering politics in 1975.
He spearheaded the New Zealand First effort to introduce the SuperGold Card, a card issued to senior citizens to help them obtain government and community services.
Family
His brothers Ian and Jim also served as Members of Parliament and his third brother, Ron, also ran as a New Zealand First candidate. He was appointed to the Privy Council of Queen Elizabeth II in 1998.
Winston Peters Timeline
1966
In 1966 he taught at Te Atatū Intermediate School in Auckland but the next year went to Australia where he became a blast-furnace worker with BHP in Newcastle and later a tunneler in the Snowy Mountains.
1970
In 1970 Peters returned to New Zealand and studied history, politics and law at the University of Auckland.
1973
In 1973, Peters graduated with a BA and LLB.
1974
He married his girlfriend Louise, and later worked as a lawyer at Russell McVeagh between 1974 and 1978.
1975
Peters entered national politics in 1975 general election, standing unsuccessfully for the National Party in the electorate seat of Northern Maori; he gained 1,873 votes, and became the first National candidate in a Māori seat for some years who did not lose his deposit.
1978
Widely known simply as "Winston", Peters has had a long and turbulent political career since first entering Parliament following the National Party win in the 1978 general election.
1979
He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 1981, 1984 to 2008 and 2011 to 2020.
1980
He favours cutting taxes; however, he was critical of the free market policies enacted by the fourth Labour and fourth National governments in the 1980s and 1990s, opposing privatisations and deregulation.
1981
He lost this seat in 1981, but in 1984 he successfully stood in the electorate of Tauranga.
1986
On 16 December 1986 Peters exposed the Māori loan affair in Parliament; this involved the-then Māori Affairs Department attempting to raise money illegally through a NZ$600 million loan-package offered by the Hawaiian businessman Michael Gisondi and the West German businessman Max Raepple.
1987
In 1987 Jim Bolger elevated him to National's Opposition front bench as spokesperson for Māori Affairs, Employment, and Race Relations.
1990
Peters first served in the Cabinet as minister of Māori affairs when Jim Bolger led the National Party to victory in 1990.
1991
He was dismissed from this post in 1991 after criticising his own Government's economic, fiscal and foreign ownership policies.
1992
As Minister of Māori Affairs, Peters co-authored the Ka Awatea report in 1992 which advocated merging the Ministry of Māori Affairs and the Iwi Transition Agency into the present Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry for Māori Development).
1993
He resigned from the National Party to form the populist party New Zealand First in 1993.
1994
Peters started the Winebox Inquiry in 1994; which concerned companies using the Cook Islands as a tax haven.
1996
Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020, the minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2008 and 2017 to 2020, and the treasurer of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998.
1998
However, the coalition dissolved in 1998 following the replacement of Bolger by Jenny Shipley as Prime Minister.
1999
In 1999, New Zealand First returned to opposition before entering government with Labour Party Prime Minister Helen Clark, in which Peters served as minister of foreign affairs from 2005 to 2008.
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2002
In the 2002 election, Peters performed well once again, campaigning on three main issues: reducing immigration, increasing punishments for crime, and ending the "grievance industry" around Treaty of Waitangi settlements.
2004
Peters has on several occasions characterised the rate of Asian immigration into New Zealand as too high; in 2004, he stated: "We are being dragged into the status of an Asian colony and it is time that New Zealanders were placed first in their own country." On 26 April 2005, he said: "Māori will be disturbed to know that in 17 years' time they will be outnumbered by Asians in New Zealand", an estimate disputed by Statistics New Zealand, the government's statistics bureau.
2005
In a speech at Orewa in 2005, he criticised immigration from Asian countries as "imported criminal activity" and warned that New Zealanders were "being colonised without having any say in the numbers of people coming in and where they are from".
2006
In October 2006, Peters affirmed that he would continue to serve as leader for the 2008 election.
2007
In 2007, Peters was bestowed with the chiefly Samoan title Vaovasamanaia, meaning "beautiful, handsome, awesome, delighted and joyful".
2008
In the 2008 general election, after a funding scandal involving Peters and his party, New Zealand First failed to reach the 5% threshold.
2009
In 2009, he caused a brief flurry of interest when it was revealed he was still using a ministerial car, some months after his election defeat.
2010
In late 2010 and early 2011 Peters made a number of appearances on television and radio where he made it clear his and New Zealand First's intention to contest the 2011 election.
2011
In the 2011 general election New Zealand First experienced a resurgence in support, winning 6.8% of the party vote to secure eight seats in Parliament.
2012
In 2012, Peters voted, together with all of his fellow New Zealand First MPs, against the Marriage Amendment Bill, which aimed to permit same sex marriage in New Zealand.
2014
In the 2014 general election, NZ First gained 11 seats and finished with 8.66%.
2015
In 2015, National MP Mike Sabin was forced to resign, leaving his seat of Northland open.
2016
In June 2016, Peters advocated interviewing immigrants and reducing immigration numbers between 7,000 and 15,000 a year on TVNZ's Q+A show.
2017
In the 2017 election, Peters lost his electorate seat of Northland but NZ First won 9 seats overall, with 7.2% of the party vote.
2018
Peters was acting prime minister from 21 June 2018 to 2 August 2018 while Ardern was on maternity leave.
2019
In August 2019, Peters called for a binding referendum on the Government's proposed Abortion Legislation Bill, claiming that it had not been part of New Zealand First's coalition agreement with Labour.
2020
In the 2020 election, NZ First failed to reach the 5% threshold and the party and Peters again left Parliament.
2021
On 20 June 2021, Winston Peters announced during New Zealand First's annual general meeting in East Auckland that he would continue leading the party for the 2023 general election.
2022
In February 2022, Peters expressed support for the Convoy 2022 New Zealand protest outside Parliament, which called for an end to vaccine mandates.
