Chris Lynch Questions Winston Peters

At the beginning of a friendly interview with Chris Lynch Media, published this evening, Chris Lynch asks New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters a series of questions pertaining to conflict in the Middle East and a recently released statement. Below is the raw transcript of those questions & answers:

Chris Lynch: Winston Peters now joins me. Good evening to you.

Mr. Peters: Good evening.

Chris Lynch:

“Thank you for your time. Before we get started on, on the Greyhound issues. I know you have put out a statement, moments ago, saying.. ..this is about what’s happening with conflict in the Middle East:”

‘Too many lives have been lost. Too many people are being traumatised, polarised, uh, and the horror continues.’

“I know you join, uh, I think 27 other countries in putting out a statement to end the war. Why was it important for you to put out this statements today Mr. Peters?”

Mr. Peters: “Well, we’ve got a situation, where uh, having talked to other countries, uh, and now 28 countries, that we agreed that we need to make a statement, uh, updating where our position is. And also it’s been joined by the EU—I understand—overnight, and so it’s making progress.”

Chris Lynch: “Do you think serious progress is being made when you only have to turn on the news every day and something else is happening over in the likes of Gaza? More atrocities happening, more atrocities being reported—it seems every day?”

Mr. Peters: “It’s enormously frustrating. Uh, you know, it’s frustrating to have spent decades of one’s life always confronting Middle East problems, and here we go now; uh, in this disastrous terrorist action of October 7—and hostages still not given back, and misuse by the Hamas, of the Palestinian people, and enormous deceit and conflict—and there we’ve got a response.. ..and as much as people have got an excuse for what they’re saying, the answer is that it’s no longer proportionate, and we should be supporting a peaceful solution as fast as possible.”

Chris Lynch: “You did offer some hope though I think in that statement, suggesting you, you know, you and other foreign ministers, uh, remain hopeful of some end to the conflict. Um, what gives you that hope Mr. Peters?”

Mr. Peters:

“Well, it’s because growing numbers of countries from all around the Middle East, and dare I say it; around the established democratic world are making a stand and we believe that the United States is also, likely put much more pressure on—to bring it to a solution, and they are critical in this engagement—in the same ways they were with the Iran-Israeli conflict, which they helped to resolve—for this time—and for how long we don’t know, but we hope it’s permanent.”

“So, we’ve just got to live with the hope that these actions will mean something, because so many are requesting us to do things, and say something, but they don’t know what—and how—and why it would work. We’ve talked to the Egyptians, we’ve talked to the Palestinian Authority, we’ve talked to a great number of Muslim countries—talked to a great number of Western countries. We’re all in-a-fix here to try an establish a peaceful outcome.”

Chris Lynch: “Just on that note, when you talk about, um, e, Egypt, I mean that always seemed to be lost in the.. ..in the discussions of this, because they’re on the other side of the conflict. Why is that do you think?”

Mr. Peters: “They’re just over the border, but they are as keen for this to be resolved as anybody else is. And so in our conversation with them, they understand our frustration, because they’ve lived through it themselves. And it’s not of any advantage to their economies, I mean, security and peace has come at enormous productivity cost, as well, for them.”

Chris Lynch Questions Winston Peters

Winston Peters on Conflict in the Middle East