Colin James has a look at the Winston Peters situation in today's NZ Herald. He sees a symbiotic relationship between the PM and Peters and suggests that Peters will survive so long as the PM doesn't think he will destroy her. We agree, but see the pile of dirt getting too big, and the risk for Labour too great. We will know more in the next day or so when we see what happens over the Appropriations Bill.
Here's an idea from Winston Peters - when you are in a hole, dig faster and heave dirt around.
The idea is to cover so much outside the hole with dirt that the casual observer might lose sight of the hole. You might then be able at some future point to climb out unnoticed.
So Peters has attacked the bearers of inconvenient news. He has offered no explanations for the apparent inconsistencies in his various statements and actions over the years and between his and others' statements on big-business contributions to various trusts with leads back to him or his party.
If he can keep this bluff going long enough, he could squeeze through the election and perhaps even stay Minister of Foreign Affairs.
For this, he needs Helen Clark to go on stonewalling - never has he needed her so much. She needs him this week to get her Budget passed and then through to November because it is hard to see how she can get the numbers for a fourth term without him - but only if she doesn't get covered in dirt.
