Winston Peters says Government’s health and safety reforms will be ‘dead on arrival’

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is vowing to scrap the Government’s major health and safety reforms, saying the legislation that is expected to have its final reading before the election will be “dead on arrival”.

Peters is bound by the coalition agreement between Act and National, and says he will not “collapse” the Government over the issue but would get “rid” of the reforms in the future. Peters and NZ First are expected to vote in favour of the bill.

Peters’ coalition agreement obliges him to abide by the coalition agreement between Act and National, which says the Government will “reform health and safety law and regulations.”

The Act minister behind the bill, Brooke van Velden, says Peters’ discontent comes “too late” and accused him of “politicking”.

Peters addressed a crowd outside Parliament who were protesting against the reforms, with family members of people who died in Pike River among them.

He told the crowd that if NZ First were “given the chance at the 2026 election, we’re going to make getting rid of this legislation a priority”.

He later told reporters he would “not bring down the Government on the matter”.

Van Velden’s bill proposes a radical shake-up of health and safety laws, which the Government says will increase certainty, reduce compliance costs and help businesses understand their responsibilities to protect their workers.

But the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, which organised today’s protests, says the legislation will wind back workplace protections that were introduced after the 2010 Pike River mining disaster, which killed 29 men.

Peters told the crowd van Velden’s bill would not last.

“I can’t logistically do it now, but I have come down the front here, I could’ve stayed in my office, but I’m going to come down and tell you ... next time, though, give me a few more men and women to do the job,” Peters said, in reference to the number of votes given to New Zealand First at the election.

He said there were “far too many people” in Parliament who did not “understand what a working day is, or what a working man and woman are, and you can tell by the way they talk and the way they act”.

“They’ve forgotten, for example, that it is the workforce of the country that, in the end, keeps the country alive, and that no matter what the industry, they critically need the workers of this country.”

Van Velden said no specific concerns that would require an amendment had been raised by New Zealand First.

“It is not the case, at the 11th hour, having been silent for over a month, that you can say that that was good faith coming from the other side.

“I think it is politicking ... Winston, if he actually has concerns, should spell out specifically what it is, and up until this point, I have heard nothing about that.”

Peters disputed this, saying his party was waiting for the formal parliamentary report on the bill.

“The report came last week. When we got hold of the report, we asked to have a meeting with her, and she said no.”

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.