Winston Peters will "live on as a hero for generations to come" if he fires Iain Lees-Galloway and take control of immigration, says Vision NZ.
The party, led by Destiny Church matriarch Hannah Tamaki, wants immigration cut to just 2000 a year, to pay refugees fleeing war-torn countries to stay away and to withdraw New Zealand from the UN's Global Compact for Migration.
"The Labour-led Government is bringing in an extra 60,000 immigrants a year," Vision NZ campaign manager Jevan Goulter said.
"Winston's biggest mistake was to believe that Labour could be trusted to fix the immigration system. They haven't even tried. In fact, the Immigration Minister remains asleep on the job."
He's demanding Lees-Galloway step aside for NZ First leader Peters.
"This is Winston's chance to write his name into the history books and stand up for Kiwi's first. If he does this not only will he cement in stone the time he saved New Zealand but will live on as a hero for generations to come."
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Goulter's numbers aren't correct. The latest Statistics NZ numbers on immigration actually show a net 55,400 gain in the year to March, down about 17,000 from the peak in 2017 - the same year Labour and NZ First formed their coalition. Nearly half were from Australia, the majority of those New Zealand citizens.
Provisional estimates for August show net migration falling further to 53,800.
In an appearance on The AM Show earlier this year, Tamaki seemed completely unaware of the numbers - believing it was 2000 a year and calling for it to be cut to 200.
"I would like to see New Zealand shut down our borders to immigrants and refugees until we can hand-on-our-heart say, we've finally put Kiwis first, and resolved our housing and homeless crisis," Tamaki wrote in an opinion piece on her website on Saturday, saying she voted for Peters in 2017 - but it was time for him to go.
"There's always a tinge of sadness when you perceive the end of an era. Perhaps its sentiment, but most likely it's the realisation the hope we entrusted to New Zealand First for our future has come to nothing... As leader of Vision New Zealand, I am determined to pick up the dropped mandate and broken promises left in the wake of Winston and New Zealand First."
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Tamaki made headlines earlier this week when she shared a doctored image of NZ First's Shane Jones, making it look like he'd been using an image of a Muslim woman for target practice.
New Zealand First is holding its annual conference this weekend. Peters is expected to make a policy announcement on Sunday.
"We're in for a much longer Winston show - he's delivering a 40-minute speech... no clue yet what's in it," Newshub political editor Tova O'Brien said.
"Disgruntled party members leaking, his former party President jumping ship, bad polling, MPs behaving badly - Winston Peters is really trying to get back on top of things."
Newshub.
