Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan grills Winston Peters on 'racist' comments that were directed at him

The Green MP who Winston Peters told to "go back to your own country" has challenged the Foreign Minister in Parliament over his comments.

Peters says his comments were not racist, and he disagrees with the prime minister's statement condemning them.

The MP, Lawrence Xu-Nan, tried about a dozen times to pin Peters down.

The pair clashed repeatedly, with Peters using Parliament's rules to avoid answering directly whether he stood by his previous comments and Parliament's Speaker Gerry Brownlee stepping in to require Peters to answer.

In the end, on the interpretation taken by Brownlee, it seems a misquote on the Green MP's part may have let Peters avoid reopening the wound.

Peters last week during a general debate speech had responded to heckling from Lawrence Xu-Nan by saying "go back to your own country ... that's where they lie like a flatfish, but they don't lie like that here, all right?"

"This is called a democracy, unlike what you're used to," Peters said.

Xu-Nan grilled Peters during Question Time on Wednesday to ask whether he stood by his statements.

"I stand by all of my statements as Minister of Foreign Affairs including those made during two visits this term to China and my numerous engagements with my Chinese counterpart," Peters responded.

Xu-Nan repeatedly put Peters own comments to him directly, but Peters repeatedly quibbled that Xu-Nan's questions to him were about his comments made as leader of the party.

"If the member would like to question my statements made as leader of the New Zealand First party, he should understand the correct place to do that is during the general debate, not during oral questions," Peters claimed.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins challenged this, saying that when a minister was making a statement relevant to a portfolio they hold, "they cannot be doing that as a party leader ... the key point here is, is it portfolio related".

"Him saying that 'I made that statement in the general debate as New Zealand First leader' cannot be allowed to stand ... when he is in this House, he is the Minister of Foreign Affairs."

Peters and Seymour both raised points of order challenging that, Seymour pointing out that Hipkins had earlier challenged Prime Minister Christopher Luxon for using the defence force plane to fly home after a National Party event by claiming he was not acting as prime minister at the time.

Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee said he did not have the previous rulings to hand about the matter, but it would be dealt with "at some point".

Xu-Nan asked if Peters agreed with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon that he had a "long track record of inappropriate attention-seeking comments designed to get the media and other politicians to talk about him instead of the issues Kiwis are facing".

Peters said the answer was "undoubtedly no", before also rejecting the suggestion his comments from last week had been racist.

He tried to refer to comments previously made by other MPs, but Brownlee disallowed it.

Peters eventually said what he agreed with was that "somebody who's been in this Parliament five minutes has wasted so much of Parliament's time".

Brownlee said that answer "doesn't help the order of the House" and his answer "doesn't need to be an insult to someone duly elected to the Parliament".

Xu-Nan tried again, but Peters again claimed the phrasing and forum was not correct.

Green MP Ricardo Menendez March challenged that with the Speaker, but Brownlee was having none of it.

"I know what the statement was, I know it very well, I've spent quite a bit of time on it ... it wasn't accurately given. Words matter."

When Labour's Kieran McAnulty raised a point of order about Peters' comments about Xu-Nan, Brownlee said he had given Xu-Nan licence to ask more questions, and people could "draw their own conclusions about what's happening here".

He did not think it appropriate at the time to have the person being questioned removed from the House.

However, he said he would review the Hansard - the official record of Parliament - and stood by his view that all members of Parliament "regardless of how long they've been here, are elected equally".

Xu-Nan was born in China, but migrated to New Zealand as a child and is a citizen.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Menendez March said it showed the prime minister "would rather stay and keep the baubles of office instead of actually clamp down on behaviour that he himself has acknowledged is harming our communities".

"We're here to keep Winston Peters away from power this election, and we'll make sure that he doesn't get another go of government."

He said he could not see the Greens "credibly forming a government that included New Zealand First".

Xu-nan said the pair were taking that position as MPs, and could not rule out the party working with New Zealand First because "we do have a democratic process".

He said the system had allowed Peters to get away with racist comments for decades, and he was not fit for purpose to be a Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"For me, the most important issue... is the impact it will have on the Chinese communities. So, my concern has been the ability for a minister to continue - or a political party in general to continue - having racist comments and getting away with it under this government and what that would mean for migrant communities."

The Chinese Embassy has criticised Peters' comments, saying it had made "solemn representations" to the Foreign Ministry over the "negative" remarks.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon himself criticised the comments as racist, but has refused calls to sack Peters as Foreign Minister.

Former Labour and National leaders have suggested that doing so was likely to trigger a snap election, but the comments were of a seriousness that may warrant it.