Same to you: Hipkins rules out Peters, who says he already ruled out Hipkins
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and Labour leader Chris Hipkins. (RNZ)
"He can't continue in that job, he can't credibly represent New Zealand on the world stage," says the Labour leader.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has ruled out working with New Zealand First's Winston Peters at the next election.
New Zealand First's leader responded to heckling in the House on Wednesday last week by attacking the Greens' Lawrence Xu-nan, telling him to go back to his "own country".
Hipkins said Winston Peters' position as foreign affairs minister was completely untenable.
"He's making international headlines for all the wrong reasons. He can't continue in that job, he can't credibly represent New Zealand on the world stage."
However, Peters fired back, saying he already ruled out working with Labour 12 months ago.
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Hipkins said he ruled out working with Winston Peters and New Zealand First before the last election and he had not regretted it.
"Behaviour like we've seen with Winston Peters and Shane Jones as well with his racist comments towards Indians in recent months is not compatible with the sort of government I want to lead."
Asked if he would rule out having Winston Peters as a foreign affairs minister if he led the next government, Hipkins said he could not be foreign affairs minister in any government.
"He cannot represent New Zealand credibly on the world stage when he's making outwardly racist comments."
Asked whether he could work with New Zealand First, Hipkins said "we couldn't work with them at the last election, nothing really has changed that makes this more likely at the coming election."
Peters has already ruled out forming a government with Labour at the next election.
"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," Peters wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.
Speaking to media on Tuesday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he had made his position on Peters clear, and the conduct of members in the debating chamber were the responsibility of the speaker of the house.
"The foreign minister and Chinese ambassadors have had spats, as he did when he was a foreign minister under the Labour government as well - there's nothing to be too concerned about there."
Luxon said New Zealand's relationship with China was "in good heart" and in a "strong place".
Asked if any of his MPs had raised concerns about his leadership over the last week, he said "no".
On Monday, Luxon said he had spoken to Peters about the comments, but refused to outline what exactly was discussed, nor would he say whether he expressed disappointment in his foreign minister.
Earlier on Monday, Luxon told Morning Report that Peters' comments were racist but that he had not yet spoken to Peters directly.
At Monday's media conference Luxon would not say if he would have Peters as foreign minister again if he won the election, saying that was all "hypothetical", nor would he be drawn on questions about the risk to coalition stability if Luxon were to discipline or try fire Peters.
Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong has also said her party would not support a government that had Peters as foreign minister.
"As we've always said, we will sit down and try to find common ground, and that remains the case with New Zealand First," she said.
"However, I think that his role as Minister of Foreign Affairs has become untenable, and so we wouldn't want to be part of a government where he is still in that role."
