Winston Peters’ attack on China-born Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan on Wednesday is the third time since last year the foreign minister has invoked an MP’s overseas origins or ethnicity during an argument in Parliament.

On July 29, Peters told a Xu-Nan to “go back to your own country”. He launched the attack in the House after the Green MP interjected during his speech about the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand’s Covid-19 response.

Xu-Nan asked Peters, “Are you vaccinated?”

Peters replied, “I’m not making it up, sunshine. I noticed you came here five minutes ago. Go back to your own country – that’s where they lie like a flatfish, but they don’t lie like that here, all right?”

Peters then carried on with a taunt about freedom of speech. “This is called a democracy – this is called a democracy, unlike what you’re used to," he said.

“Go back to where you’ve come from, you loudmouth, and maybe you’ll learn something about the political system of New Zealand in time before you go streaming out of here in three months’ time.”

Xu-Nan was born in Tianjin, China, but grew up in East Auckland and attended school there. He entered Parliament as a Green list MP in March 2024.

Peters later stood by the comments while speaking to reporters outside the House. He called Xu-Nan an “arrogant twit” and again invoked his background and command of English.

“He’s only been here for five minutes and can’t even speak the language properly. And he thinks he knows everything. That’s incredible,” Peters said.

He also accused Xu-Nan of wasting Parliament’s time by repeatedly asking questions that were of “no value to the debate”.

Green co-leader Marama Davidson described the comments as an attempt to distract attention by targeting migrants.

“The Green Party will not be distracted from the real issues facing Aotearoa,” she said.

“Targeting migrants is a desperate attempt to cover over the facts – under this Government the super-rich pay less than half the tax rate of working people, while more than one in seven children live in poverty.”

Not Peters' first rodeo

Wednesday's attack follows a confrontation in February 2025, when Peters invoked Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March’s arrival from Mexico while objecting to his use of “Aotearoa” in Parliament.

March had used Aotearoa while asking a question about immigration. Peters responded, “The name of this country is New Zealand. This person who came here in 2006 – you’re not going to change it.”

The following day, Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni asked whether Peters’ comments suggested that people born overseas should have fewer rights than people born in New Zealand.

Answering on behalf of the prime minister, Peters denied making such a suggestion.

He said he had merely drawn a parallel between March applying in 2006 to enter a country called New Zealand and his subsequent use of Aotearoa. “That’s not an attack on any immigrant, at all,” Peters said.

 March was raised in Tijuana, Mexico, and moved to New Zealand in 2006. Speaker Gerry Brownlee subsequently ruled that MPs were entitled to use Aotearoa in the House because it was regularly used as a name for New Zealand and appeared on passports and currency.

The Auckland-born MP who “came from Rarotonga”

In February this year, Peters invoked Green MP Teanau Tuiono’s Cook Islands ancestry while challenging his use of Aotearoa.

Peters asked why a minister was answering a question from someone “who comes from Rarotonga to a country called New Zealand”.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins objected, telling the Speaker that questioning an MP’s right to ask a question because of their country of origin was “pure racism”.

The Speaker said he had not heard that implication at the start of Peters’ question and would review the Hansard. Peters was then permitted to complete his point.

He asked why a minister was answering a question from “somebody who came here from a country called Rarotonga” and who had decided, without consulting New Zealanders, to change the country’s name.

The Speaker then stopped him. “No, sorry, that’s not an acceptable question at all,” Brownlee said.

“I want that to be the last time that those sort of questions are directed so personally at members of this House.”

Tuiono was born in Auckland and has Māori and Cook Islands Māori lineage. He responded by encouraging Peters to recognise that other MPs also had whakapapa connecting them to Northland.