New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says he didn't run in Tauranga's by-election because there was no democratic reason for it.
Peters told Newshub Nation on Saturday that ex-Tauranga MP Simon Bridges has "walked out" on the three-year promise he gave the city.
"How many commentators and politicians have said this is a waste of a million dollars and we cannot afford in our present economic circumstances to be wasting money willy-nilly like the Government is?" Peters asked.
He told Newshub Nation "there is no need for a by-election".
"If there is somebody that has to be removed because of a crime or some offence, or something like that, or needs a mandate because of other circumstances then a by-election is justified," he said.
"But there was no democratic reason for this by-election."
Peters added that Te Pāti Māori's claims that Tauranga is a racist city is "humbug".
"For the 35 of the last 38-years, they've had two people of Māori background as representatives, so that debunks the kind of codswallop that Te Pāti Māori or Te Piti Māori I might say have been guilty of."
Watch the full interview above.
