New Zealand First's annual State of the Nation speech was delivered on Sunday in Palmerston North by party leader Winston Peters. And when it comes to calling out racism, media bias, and ideological failures, you can count on Winston to deliver the truth. 

Covering everything from the state of the economy, to our coalition commitments, the leader spoke to a packed room of around 700. If you missed it you can read the speech in full here. 

The week has been full of media coverage following the speech. You can catch up on all the post-event coverage in the following interviews: 

• Winston Peters: NZ First leader outlines the purpose of his State of the Nation speech  
• Winston Peters Talks State of the Nation Speech & Media Woes  
• 'What are you on about?': Peters stands by controversial State of the Nation speech | AM 
• Winston Peters reflects on trip to India and looks ahead to visit from China's Foreign Minister 
• Winston Peters on his state of the nation speech  
• WINSTON PETERS: Deputy Prime Minister And Minister of Foreign Affairs: On His 'State Of The Nation Speech' And What Keeps Him Up At Night  

New Zealand First will never shy away from the challenges facing New Zealand, as we continue to advocate for democracy, balance and commonsense. 

Investigating Reopening of Marsden Point Oil Refinery 

This week we announced that we are investigating the feasibility of reopening the Marsden Point Oil Refinery as part of our coalition commitment. The closure of New Zealand’s only oil refinery not only robbed Northland of a major employer, but it also put New Zealand’s fuel security at risk. 

We heard the shocking revelation in the house this week, that if New Zealand were to sustain a tanker disruption or pipeline supply issue, our country would be in total crisis within 17 to 21 days. Shane Jones hammered it home that the closure of Marsden Point oil refinery was shallow thinking, and grossly worsened our fuel security measures. 

We cannot mistake environmental protection with climate activism and New Zealand First will bring balance and pragmatism if we are to improve the future of our country. New Zealand First will establish a fuel security plan to safeguard New Zealand’s transport, logistics and emergency services from any domestic or international disruption. 

We campaigned on investigating the reopening of Marsden Point. New Zealand First remains a staunch champion for the economic growth of our regions, to ensure New Zealand is a self-reliant and prosperous nation for all New Zealanders. 

• "Fuel resilience is going to cost": Govt investigates re-opening of Marsden Point  
• Shane Jones wants oil refinery reopened, says being fossil fuel-free is fanciful  

Hate speech legislation stopped 

Another of our highly anticipated coalition promises has made headway, with the confirmation that hate speech legislation work has been halted. 

New Zealand First has always believed in freedom of speech and we welcome the news that work on hate speech laws has been scrapped. This is another big step in strengthening democracy and freedom in New Zealand. 

• Hate speech work cancelled, but hate crime work continues  

Covid Inquiry – terms of reference submissions 

Remember that the closing date is this Sunday the 24th of March for your submissions on the covid inquiry terms of reference. Make sure you have your say if you haven’t done so already. 

We will continue you to bring you further updates on the next stages of the inquiry that we campaigned on as they arise. 

Feedback on the terms of reference - Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 - Citizen Space 

More from the NZF team 

The New Zealand First podcast “First Hand” released another episode on YouTube this week, featuring Young New Zealand First chairperson, Keegan Langeveld. Keegan is a strong advocate for the youth wing of New Zealand First, and he is passionate about giving young New Zealanders a voice in policy development. 

Mark Patterson joined the New Zealand First team at the Central District Field Days last week and was part of the Food and Fibre Panel with other MP’s. Take a listen to the discussion here.