Foreign Minister Winston Peters has doubled down in the House of Parliament on his comments about Australian MP and prominent AUKUS critic Bob Carr.
Peters first made the comments against Carr in a radio interview on Thursday morning which prompted a threat of legal action from Australia's former foreign minister.
Newshub has contacted Carr's office who said he is currently overseas, but the office referred to the remarks as being "defamatory" and said they have contacted his lawyer.
Inside the House of Parliament, Labour MP David Parker asked Peters if he "stands by his criticisms of the critics of AUKUS including his statement about honourable Bob Carr that 'he is nothing more than a Chinese puppet'?"
Peters responded: "Yes".
"Particularly those comments that highlighted the fact that critics don't know what they don't know regarding the strategic challenges that New Zealand faces."
He went on to hit out at critics who call AUKUS a military alliance, as Pillar 2, which the Government was exploring, as it is actually a technology-sharing mechanism.
Peters also said he was "late to the party" in regards to Carr, referring to a 2018 opinion article by the Australian Financial Review titled "How Bob Carr became China's pawn".
Peters then moved on to call out Labour's opposition to AUKUS, given the Party initiated discussions around Pillar 2.
Both Peters and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon have confirmed the Government's stance on AUKUS has not changed from the previous government's position.
Labour's opinion surrounding AUKUS changed, with the Party hosting an anti-AUKUS summit in April where critics, including Carr, spoke about the dangers of AUKUS.
"The critics were silent like lambs ever since October 2021 when that member's government started considering New Zealand's involvement with AUKUS. The same Labour Government that sanctioned officials to initiate discussions with AUKUS partners in 2023 but now act like Lions following the change of Government."
Outside of the House, Peters told reporters he had not been contacted by Carr's lawyers and likened the threats to the Chumbawamba debacle.
"The last time I talked to you about Chumbawamba I was told I was going to be sued by all the Tom, Dick and Harry. You've made a huge sensation for a couple of weeks, made all sorts of false allegations and I haven't even been contacted yet," Peters told reporters.
Labour weighed in on Peters' comments on Thursday morning, saying he should be stood down as Foreign Minister.
"Winston Peters has abused his office as minister of foreign affairs, and this now becomes a problem for the prime minister," Hipkins told reporters.
However, Luxon said he has not spoken to Peters about the comments, nor has he seen any legal action being commenced.
"They're not comments I would make. I'm sure Bob Carr is a seasoned politician and understands the rough and tumble of politics," Luxon said.
"What I would say is I think Winston Peters has done an exceptional job at lifting our urgency, intensity and engagement with our partners around the world."
It comes after Peters made a major foreign affairs speech to the Institute of International Affairs on Wednesday night in which he addressed the public debate surrounding AUKUS.
During this speech, Peters confirmed New Zealand have not been invited by AUKUS partners to join the agreement.
He added that if the country is invited sometime in the future, we would then need to decide whether or not to accept a decision, which the Government was a long way from making.
