𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕣 𝔸𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕟 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤

𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗 '𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪' 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕤 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕖𝕩-𝔸𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣

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he Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his "totally unacceptable" attack on a prominent AUKUS critic.

In an interview on RNZ's Morning Report on Thursday, Peters criticised the former Australian MP Bob Carr's views on the security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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RNZ has removed the comments from the interview online after Carr, who was Australia's foreign minister from 2012 to 2013, told RNZ he considered the remarks to be "entirely defamatory" and would commence legal action.

A spokesperson for Peters told RNZ the minister would respond if he received formal notification of any such action. The country's CEO office has been contacted for comment.

Opposition leader Chris Hipkins fronts media on Peters defamation by ex Australian foreign affairs minister Bob Carr

Speaking to media in Auckland, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Peters' allegations were "totally unacceptable" and "well outside his brief".

"He's embarrassed the country. He's created legal risk to the New Zealand government."

Hipkins said country CEO Luxon must show some leadership and stand Peters down from the role immediately.

"Winston Peters has abused his office as minister of foreign affairs, and this now becomes a problem for the prime minister.

"Winston Peters cannot execute his duties as foreign affairs minister while he has this hanging over him."

Peters was being interviewed on Morning Report about a major foreign policy speech he delivered in Wellington on Wednesday night where he laid out New Zealand's position on AUKUS.

Hipkins told reporters he was pleased with the "overall thrust" of Peters' speech compared to recent comments he made while visiting the US.

"I welcome him stepping back a little bit from his previous 'rush-headlong-into-signing-up-for-AUKUS'," Hipkins said. "That is a good thing."

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Hipkins said the government needed to be very clear with New Zealanders about what AUKUS Pillar 2 involved.

Last month, Carr travelled to New Zealand to take part in a panel discussion on AUKUS, after Labour's foreign affairs spokesperson David Parker organised a debate at Parliament.

Former Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark was also on the panel, and has been highly critical of AUKUS and what she believes is the Coalition government moving closer to traditional allies, in particular the United States.

Clark told Morning Report on Thursday she had contacted Carr after she heard Peters' comments, which she also described as defamatory.

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