Labour leader Chris Hipkins officially rules out working with Winston Peters and NZ First, saying ‘they won’t have any role in a government that I lead’

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has officially ruled out his party working with Winston Peters and NZ First.

“Winston Peters has ruled us out. I’m happy to rule him out. It’s clearly not going to happen," Hipkins said.

“I’m not going to put up with overt racism in any government that I lead, as that’s the sort of behaviour that Winston Peters and NZ First are indulging in," Hipkins said on Monday afternoon.

“They won’t have any role in a government that I lead.”

Hipkins’ official ruling out of NZ First comes after recent comments by Peters about Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan, with Peters telling Xu-Nan to go back to his own country. Last week, Hipkins said Peters’ comments were “reprehensible” and his position as Foreign Affairs Minister was untenable.

“He will not be Minister of Foreign Affairs in any government that I lead,” Hipkins said at the time.

This is not the first time NZ First members have made these types of comments. In April, NZ First Deputy leader Shane Jones made comments in relation to the India Free Trade Agreement, saying he was never going to agree with a “butter chicken tsunami coming to New Zealand.” His comments were strongly condemned by the country’s Indian community.

Asked by reporters on Monday why it took until now for Hipkins to rule out NZ First, he said: “I think overall, New Zealand First's pattern of behaviour has continued to escalate, and it's clear that they're going to continue to do more. That's going to be bad for social cohesion in New Zealand.”

He said he had heard firsthand from members migrant communities, the Chinese community and the Indian community that they were being subject to "more and more overt racism."

“That's being emboldened by New Zealand First. Christopher Luxon should do something about that. He's not. Winston Peters and Shane Jones have made their own positions untenable.”

The move to publicly rule out NZ First followed internal Labour conversations with Hipkins saying he wanted to give his colleagues a chance to have a conversation with him before he was more definitive about it.

He said there was not a single person in the Labour team who thought the party should be open to working with NZ First, given their recent behaviour.

“I ruled out working with NZ First at the last election, and I've also consistently said that that was highly unlikely to change. [I] can absolutely confirm today that it's not going to change. New Zealand First and Labour will not be working together.”

“A vote for New Zealand First is a vote for Christopher Luxon to continue as Prime Minister. A vote for Christopher Luxon is a vote for Winston Peters to still be a minister. If you don't want all of those things to happen, vote Labour,” Hipkins said.

Peters has already ruled out working with Labour, saying in April he wouldn't do a deal with them.

After Hipkins ruled out having Peters as Foreign Affairs Minister in any government he led last week, Peters also took to social media to write: “The only thing THICKER than Chris Hipkins ruling me out TWELVE MONTHS AFTER I RULED HIM OUT is the low IQ media who report it.”

On Monday, Peters took to social media again, saying: "Why the media aren’t lambasting him for 'ruling NZFirst out' after we ruled him out four years ago, then again twelve months ago, and repeatedly done so every month when answering the same stupid questions, is beyond a joke."