Peters renews pledge to mark party's 20th birthday
It's had its ups, including seats in government, and downs, including investigations into campaign finances, but NZ First remains embedded at the centre of the political stage.
This week the party marks its 20th birthday.
Leader Winston Peters, who started NZ First with members of the National and Labour parties in 1993, said it would mark the milestone with a "renewed pledge to restore New Zealand's reputation as a fair and prosperous nation".
There's little doubt that NZF has survived solely because of the personality of Winston Peters. But Winston is not getting any younger (he will be 69 at the time of the 2014 General Election), and doubts remain over the viability of the party without him. As if to amplify those doubts, Peters has still not appointed a deputy leader, despite the party having been back in Parliament for almost 20 months.
It would be churlish not to congratulate Peters and his party on reaching this milestone. We would be very surprised however if NZ First was around to celebrate a 25th anniversary. When Peters decides that it's time to pull the plug, or when the electorate decides for him, we reckon that NZ First will very quickly slide from our political consciousness, if not from our memories.
