Andrew Dickens: The quiet war between David Seymour and Winston Peters

Don’t you hate it when the kids fight. 

The quiet war between David Seymour and Winston Peters has kicked up a little lately with both the boys playing games in court to win the hearts of the public. 

That's the problem when you’re a minor party, you need to make noise to be noticed. 

The big noise for a while has been David Seymour who has taken conversations by the throat with his Treaty Principles Act. Love it or hate it, you're all talking about it which is all a politician wants. 

Last week I warned that Winston has been a good boy while he’s held the Deputy Prime Minister job but that’s coming to an end in a few months and he does a swapsie with David Seymour. That will free his hand and you’ll hear much more from him. 

That's started, which explains why he’s taken over the railways. He wants to be seen as a saviour and solver. 

Seymour and Peters have very differing views of the railways - Winston blames past privatisation's. David wants to privatise 49 per cent of it. 

Winston also has a treaty principles strategy. He’s looking to cancel the legislation that already exists that proscribes how the treaty inveigles it’s way into legislation, it’s got a much better chance of success than Seymour's act and referendum but has flown under the radar since the election. That hacks him off. 

You’ve got to remember that Winston is an old school conservative and closer to the old socialists that cared about the working class. David Seymour is part of a new conservatism that believes in capitalism, markets and winner takes all. 

They’re not naturally compatible.

So the next 18 months looks to be increasingly entertaining and that’s a good thing because a contest of ideas is a good thing.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, don't you hate it when the kids fight. There's
a quiet war happening right now between David Seymour and
Winston Peters, the coalition partners. It's kicked up a little lately,
both boys playing games as they try to win the
hearts of the public and then win votes, which will
be all important when we finally go back to the
polls in twenty twenty six. This, of course, is the
problem when you're a minor party. You need to make

(00:20):
noise to be noticed. You can get swamped so very
very easily. And the big noise for a while has
been David Seymour, who took conversations by the throat with
his treaty principles act love it or hate it, you're
all talking about it, which is all a politician wants.
Last week I said, when I was doing the Drive show,
I did an editorial that said that Winston's been a
good boy while he's held the deputy prime minister job,

(00:43):
but that's coming to an end in a few months.
He does a swap seat with David Seymour. That will
free Winston's hand. You're going to hear a lot more
from him. And look at that he started this week.
That's why he's taken over the railways. He wants to
be seen as a savior and a solver. The Herald
editorial this morning calls the move a Peter's power play.

(01:03):
Seymour and Peters have very different views of the railways.
By the way, Winston blames past privatizations. David wants to
privatize forty nine percent of it. Winston, by the way,
also has a treaty principal strategy. Just like David. He's
looking to cancel the legislation that already exists that prescribes
how the treaty veigels its way into our legislation. It's

(01:26):
got a much better chance of success than Seymour's Act
and referendum, but so far it's flowed under the radar
since the election. That hacks Winston off. And it's coming
and he's going to be free to promote it. So
you're going to hear a lot more about that soon.
And you've got to remember the difference between Winston and David.
Winston is an old school conservative and closer really to

(01:48):
those old fashioned socialists we used to know that cared
about the working class, but it didn't have much truck
with all that sort of liberal stuff. You know those guys.
David Seymour, though he's part of the New Conservatism and
believes in capitalism, markets and winner takes all, Winston doesn't
believe that they are not naturally compatible. So I think
it's a good thing that they're starting to fight, even

(02:09):
if they are fighting in public. The next eighteen months
looks to be increasingly entertaining, and that is also a
good thing, because you know, what are we about here?
A contest of ideas. For more from Early Edition with
Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talks it be from
five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.