Appointing Winston Peters as Foreign Minister would be the equivalent of a Kim Beazley making Pauline Hanson, Foreign Affairs Minister, in order to run a tenuous minority government. The only difference is that Peters is Maori while Hanson isn’t Aboriginal.
Couldn’t have happened here, could it? Well, it could in Tasmania, which is the only state with proportional representation. And who knows what will happen with the remnants of One Nation after the next Queensland election – anyone could be doing deals with them. Could Anna Bligh be as ruthless as Helen Clark? Probably.
At least I can agree with Peters on one point – many of the Asian leaders with which he will be dealing will be racist too. I’ve never understood the way that Australian leaders can be so stung by criticism about human rights and racism from leaders who care little for either.
In fact, accusations of racism by international leaders are most frequently the refuge of the scoundrel. Take a look at the latest from Robert Mugabe. Actually, he doesn’t mention race here, just trots out the school boy debating bogey-man of Adolph Hitler and applies it to Blair and Bush. But charges of racism are never far from his lips.
Per capita, on the International stage, with company like this, Peters should be able to hold his own.