Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong says ruling out NZ First has become a "serious consideration" after Winston Peters defended a party ad blaming the sinking of the HMNZS Manawanui on "woke bulls***".
Wong previously ruled out working with any government with Peters as Foreign Minister after he told Green MP Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan to "go back to your own country".
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Asked if Opportunity would now rule out NZ First entirely, Wong said: "It's becoming a serious consideration for us.
"I think we're still going to sit around the table with the party that gets the largest number of seats first, but if New Zealand First is part of the makeup of that government, that's going to be something we have to really take into account very seriously as to whether we can work with them."
The NZ First social media video showed party candidate and former defence minister Ron Mark saying "woke b******t of diversity, equity and inclusiveness" had gone "too far", using the sinking as evidence.
Mark told RNZ he took offence to suggestions the ad was sexist as the vessel was captained by Commander Yvonne Gray, saying the focus should be on the men who made certain decisions.
But Peters said it was "clear as day" she was hired under a "DEI" programme.
He claimed Gray was not qualified, saying: "To think it was reef examining on autopilot is just appalling and there's no excuse for it."
"We are not against the promotion of seriously qualified women - never have been - but in this case, she was not qualified," Peters said.
Wong said it was becoming "clearer and clearer" that it would be difficult for Opportunity to work with NZ First.
"Policies is one thing, and there are ways that we could try and find common ground on that. But some of their remarks and behaviour, obviously the racist remarks towards Lawrence Xu-Nan, now sexist remarks saying that an appointment of a woman was based on diversity, is just not appropriate.
"That does not belong in our political arena, and we need better leaders than that."
Peters responded to Wong in a post to X, saying: "Here is a 'serious consideration' - we long ago ruled out working with this bunch of pinko communists.
"It must be hard for the slow-learning naive consultants who had to advertise for their leader - and even harder for their mainstream media fellow travellers."
Opportunity registered 6% in last night's 1News Verian poll, and could hold the balance of power after election day.
Asked if she was more comfortable with the left bloc of Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori, Wong said Opportunity would still negotiate first with the party that gets the most seats.
"They still need to meet our bottom lines, and more importantly, we need to align on the future vision that we see for this country, and so that's what we are looking for in terms of other parties.
"I do think that either Labour or National could align with the future that we want to see," she said.
National leader Christopher Luxon has repeatedly said he is ruling out Opportunity.
Despite this, Wong said: "I think it's pretty clear that they would rather at least have a conversation than be in opposition."
She believed Luxon had backed himself into a corner.
"But I think again, it's really important for political leaders to set the tone and say it's okay to change your mind," she said.
"That's normal, that's human, and it's better that we front up and be honest with the public about these things than continuing to push oneself into the corner."
Opportunity founder Gareth Morgan spoke to Breakfast about the party’s surge. (Source: Breakfast)
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