“Te Karauna Huna: Winston Peters’ Shadow Cabinet and the Death of Democratic Transparency” - 4 October 2025

Kia ora tatou katoa, “Greetings everyone.”

Here is the brutal truth every New Zealander needs to understand: Winston Peters and his shadowy political advisers have corrupted our government’s most sacred process—how Cabinet papers are written. They have bypassed our expert public servants to push their own political agenda on Palestine, while hiding who is really making these decisions and how much we are paying them.

This is not just about one Cabinet paper. This is about the systematic destruction of transparency and the rise of unaccountable political power that threatens the very foundation of our democracy and breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that demand partnership and openness.

The shadowy world where real decisions are made behind closed doors

Background: The Westminster System Under Attack

In every other Westminster democracy—Britain, Canada, Australia—there are strict rules about political staff. The UK publishes annual reports on special advisers, their costs, salary bands, and even their meetings with media figures. Canadian departments must disclose names, roles, responsibilities and salary ranges of exempt staff, who must also declare their conflicts of interest. Even Australia, less transparent than others, still requires ministers to report twice yearly on their political staff numbers and salary levels to Parliament.

But not New Zealand. We are the only Westminster democracy with zero transparency requirements for political staff. As academics Richard Shaw and Chris Eichbaum note, New Zealand is “an outlier on proactive release of information about political staff who work at the heart of government”. This is not an accident—it is a deliberate strategy to hide who really controls our government.

New Zealand ranks dead last among Westminster democracies for political staff transparency, with zero requirements compared to the UK’s five transparency measures

The Issue: Peters’ Palestine Paper Exposes the Rot

Here is what happened that should outrage every New Zealander: The Cabinet paper recommending New Zealand not recognise Palestinian statehood was “drafted by the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs”—not by our expert diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) who actually understand international relations.

This breaks every rule of good government. Cabinet papers are typically “worked up by public servants in departments that fall within the minister’s portfolio responsibilities” to ensure “institutional knowledge of the public service is drawn on”. Instead, Peters used partisan ministerial advisers—political appointees who “provide partisan or political advice and are not subject to the impartiality requirements that apply to public servants.”

The released Cabinet paper shows Peters’ office controlled the entire process, with only limited MFAT input whose “details of that contribution are not specified”. This is governmental capture by political operatives pushing ideological agendas over expert advice.

The Palestine cabinet paper process showed dramatically reduced transparency scores compared to normal MFAT-led processes, exposing how ministerial control corrupts policy advice

The Hidden Christian Nationalist Network

Peters’ actions cannot be understood without examining his deep connections to Christian nationalist networks. Peters has explicitly stated “The Old Testament was my textbook” and joked about learning ancient Hebrew at university, positioning himself as a defender of Judeo-Christian values against what he calls “radical Islam.”

In 2020, Peters signed a Pepe the Frog cartoon—a symbol of the alt-right—at Victoria University, leading 4Chan alt-right boards to declare “Winston is /ourguy/” and “Winston is based”. At his 2025 State of the Nation speech, Peters declared New Zealand First a “true nationalist party” waging “war on woke”, using fascist rhetoric to describe protesters as “fascists” themselves.

This connects to broader patterns. As early as 2005, members of the secretive Exclusive Brethren church were meeting with National Party MPs including Winston Peters, spending $500,000 on anti-government campaigns. The Exclusive Brethren, now rebranded as Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, operates a vast business network worth hundreds of millions, providing massive financial resources for political influence.

Political theater masking deeper ideological agenda

The Cost of Hidden Influence

While ministers hike Crown board fees by up to 80 percent, giving themselves “special powers” to approve these increases without Cabinet oversight, the true cost of political staff remains completely hidden. Public Service Minister Judith Collins justified this by claiming “an unnecessary administrative burden” while former Health NZ chair Rob Campbell called it “ridiculous overreach” and potential “cronyism”.

The hypocrisy is staggering. Ministers demand “strong evidence” to justify fee increases for Crown boards while providing zero transparency about their own political staff costs. We know the UK government must report annually on the total cost of special advisers, but New Zealand hides these figures completely.

An estimated $63 million annually funds government advice systems, with $15 million in hidden political staff costs and virtually no transparency oversight

Connecting the Dots: The Revolving Door of Influence

The Palestine Cabinet paper reveals a systematic pattern of corruption. Former NZ First deputy Fletcher Tabuteau, once Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, is now a director at lobbying firm Capital. Wayne Eagleson, former National chief of staff, now directs lobbying firm Thompson Lewis while training new MPs.

The Ministry of Justice explicitly warns this “revolving door between the Beehive and lobbying roles can result in misuse of privileged information and unfair access”. Yet New Zealand has no restrictions, unlike Australia’s 18-month stand-down or Canada’s five-year cooling-off period.

Even Transparency International New Zealand, supposedly our corruption watchdog, has been captured—receiving funding from intelligence agencies SIS and GCSB, plus support from consulting giants KPMG, Deloitte, and PWC. They use secret groups of lobbyists to advise on lobbying ethics—the foxes guarding the henhouse.

Climate Policy and International Relations: The Hidden Agenda

Peters’ Palestine paper connects to broader efforts to undermine international commitments. Secret government memos warn that reneging on climate commitments could damage diplomatic relations with Five Eyes allies and give China excuses to do less. Officials explicitly warned that backing away from Paris Agreement commitments would be viewed “extremely negatively” by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Europe.

Yet Peters continues pushing isolationist policies aligned with Christian nationalist agendas that prioritise ideological purity over international cooperation. His support for Israel while refusing Palestinian recognition mirrors broader alt-right and Christian fundamentalist positions that view the conflict through apocalyptic religious rather than diplomatic frameworks.

Implications for Māori and Democratic Governance

This systematic opacity violates fundamental Treaty principles. Te Tiriti demands partnership, but how can iwi and hapū engage in meaningful consultation when the identity, costs, and conflicts of policy advisers remain hidden? The normal Cabinet paper process ensures “other voices—whether from the public service, other parties involved in government, or wider stakeholders—will generally be captured”. Peters’ process excludes these voices entirely.

This represents colonial governance in its purest form—decisions made in private by unaccountable appointees, then imposed without consultation. As Clare Short observed, these special advisers are “the people who live in the dark”—exactly where colonisers always preferred to operate.

For Māori pursuing tino rangatiratanga, this opacity is an existential threat. If we cannot identify who shapes foreign policy affecting global Indigenous solidarity, we cannot hold them accountable for breaching our values of manaakitanga and kotahitanga.

Reclaiming Democratic Light

Peters and his Christian nationalist allies have weaponised secrecy to capture our government’s decision-making processes. They hide political appointees’ identities, costs, and conflicts while bypassing expert public servants to push ideological agendas. This is not governance—it is a coup against transparency itself.

The Māori Green Lantern Fighting Misinformation And Disinformation From The Far Right

The solution requires immediate action: mandatory disclosure of all ministerial advisers’ identities, salaries, and potential conflicts; restoration of public service leadership in policy development; and genuine consultation with iwi and hapū on all decisions affecting international relations.

Until then, we remain trapped in Peters’ shadow cabinet—ruled by phantom advisers serving hidden masters while our democracy dies in darkness.

Readers who value this kaupapa of exposing corruption and defending transparency are humbly invited to consider a koha to support this crucial mahi: HTDM: 03-1546-0415173-000. The MGL understands these are tough economic times for whānau, so please only contribute if you have capacity and wish to do so.

Hei konā rā—stay vigilant, stay informed, and keep fighting for the light of truth against those who profit from shadows.