National MPs Back Luxon After Business Apology, Avoid Calls to Sack Winston Peters

This article is based on reporting by Radio RNZ, published on 4 August 2026. Original reporting: RNZ Parliamentary Reporters.

National Party MPs have rallied behind Prime Minister Christopher Luxon following his apology to New Zealand businesses over remarks he made at a Rotorua Business Chamber event last week, while declining to say whether Foreign Minister Winston Peters should lose his position over comments directed at Green Party MP Lawrence Xu-nan.

Luxon apologised on Monday after comments that some businesses had a “parent-child mentality” and looked too often to the Government for support were criticised as being out of touch.

The Prime Minister also confirmed he had spoken privately with Winston Peters after Peters told Green MP Lawrence Xu-nan to “go back to your own country”, remarks Luxon has publicly described as “racist”. However, Luxon declined to reveal what was discussed during that conversation.

Nearly Half of New Zealand Consumers Faced Product or Service Problems, Survey Finds

Speaking to reporters outside Parliament on Tuesday morning, Rangitīkei MP Suze Redmayne defended the Prime Minister, saying Luxon regularly spends time meeting business owners across the country.

“Just by his actions, he supports small businesses 100 percent.”

She pointed to a recent visit to Mitchpine in Levin, where she said business leaders were highly complimentary of the Prime Minister.

When asked whether she was comfortable with Winston Peters remaining in Cabinet, Redmayne declined to comment, saying, “It’s not my Cabinet.”

Banks Peninsula MP Vanessa Weenink agreed that Peters’ remarks were racist and acknowledged that some of her constituents had been upset by them.

However, she stopped short of saying Peters should lose his role as Foreign Minister.

“That’s something that the prime minister should answer to and has discussed. It’s not up to me.”

West Coast-Tasman MP Maureen Pugh said she had not seen Luxon’s apology because she had accidentally left her phone in Wellington over the weekend.

While describing Peters’ comments as “ill-conceived”, she also avoided directly answering whether the Foreign Minister should remain in his position.

“We’re in the downhill slope now of a three-year term. Let’s just see out the last six weeks.”

List MP Nancy Lu similarly agreed the comments were racist but did not offer an opinion on Peters’ future.

Upper Harbour MP Cameron Brewer said the Government remained focused on completing its legislative programme before the election.

“We are focused in these last few weeks on passing some key legislation, mainly around the Resource Management Act.”

He added that the Prime Minister had already made his position clear by describing Peters’ remarks as racist.

Southland MP Joseph Mooney also avoided commenting on Peters’ position.

“The prime minister has made his own views on those comments very clear… there’s not much more to say really than that.”

Meanwhile, Labour leader Chris Hipkins criticised Luxon’s comments to business leaders, saying the Prime Minister had “misread the room.”

Hipkins told RNZ’s Morning Report that small businesses deserved to have their concerns taken seriously.

“When they raise legitimate concerns with the prime minister, as they did last week, they deserve to be respected and treated seriously, not spoken to as if they’re children.”

Hipkins also said Labour would actively compete for the support of small business owners ahead of the election.

ACT leader David Seymour took a different view, saying it was entirely the Prime Minister’s decision whether to apologise.

“He obviously felt he had been misunderstood or perhaps misspoken what he was trying to get across and he’d caused some offence to some people, so he apologised and good on him.”

Seymour added that leaders occasionally make mistakes and that apologising when necessary was part of public life.

Webfit News Perspective

With only weeks remaining before New Zealand heads to the polls, political leaders are finding themselves under increasing scrutiny over both their words and their leadership. Christopher Luxon’s apology has helped ease concerns among some business leaders, but questions surrounding Winston Peters’ comments continue to dominate political discussion. The differing responses from National MPs also highlight the delicate balance coalition partners must maintain during an election campaign. As voters prepare to make their decision, issues of leadership, accountability and economic confidence are likely to remain central themes.

Source: This article is based on reporting by RNZ, published on 4 August 2026, by RNZ Parliamentary Reporters.