Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has told RNZ's Morning Report that Winston Peters' comments toward Greens MP Lawrence Xu-nan were racist, but as of Monday had not yet spoken with the New Zealand First leader about them, saying both had "been on the road" (RNZ).

Luxon said he plans to talk to Peters about the remarks "at some point." He called them "racist and offensive" and said Peters was deliberately seeking attention and pushing buttons rather than focusing on issues that matter to New Zealanders. Luxon also said the comments were made in Peters' role as New Zealand First leader, not as Foreign Minister.

The remarks happened in Parliament on Wednesday. Peters was responding to comments from Xu-nan, a Green MP who was born in China, when he told Xu-nan to "go back to his own country." The exchange has since been covered by multiple international media outlets, which have identified Peters as New Zealand's foreign minister — a framing that connects the comments to his government role regardless of Luxon's distinction.

The fallout has gone beyond New Zealand's media. Protests were held in Beijing following Peters' remarks, according to the New York Times (NYT). The same report noted that some observers dismissed Xu-Nan's connection to China because he is not a Chinese citizen — but that argument has not stopped the international attention.

Luxon's response has developed over several days of questioning. On July 30, 1News asked the Prime Minister directly whether he believed Peters' remarks toward Chinese-born Green MP Lawrence Xu-nan were racist. He answered: "Yes, I do" (1News). In the same interview, Luxon said he would not be sacking Peters over the remarks. RNZ's Checkpoint programme reported separately that Luxon retains confidence in Peters as Foreign Minister despite the comments (RNZ Checkpoint).

Green MP Tamatha Paul said Peters' language risked encouraging racist behaviour in the community (RNZ).

This is not the first time Luxon has been asked to judge whether Peters' language crosses a line. In March 2024, RNZ reported that Luxon said similar comments from Peters were racist and "certainly seeking to stoke racism" (RNZ).

New Zealand's government is formed through a system called MMP, where parties often need to join forces to reach enough seats to govern. National, Luxon's party, governs in coalition with ACT and New Zealand First. That means Luxon depends on Peters' support to pass laws, which makes disciplining him more complicated. Asked whether he would rule out forming another government with New Zealand First, Luxon said: "at the moment, I don't want to work with anyone." He said his ideal situation would be 20 National ministers in Cabinet. But he also noted that National had shown it could work with both ACT and New Zealand First despite disagreements — keeping both options open.

The broader context here is the gap between what Luxon says and what he does about it. He has now used the word "racist" to describe Peters' comments more than once, across two separate incidents months apart. Each time, the consequences have stopped at a planned conversation. Peters remains Foreign Minister. No coalition agreement has been disturbed. But the protests in Beijing add something that domestic politics alone cannot manage: the remarks are now a foreign-policy matter, reported globally under Peters' ministerial title, and the line Luxon tries to draw between Peters-as-party-leader and Peters-as-Foreign-Minister may not hold in other countries where New Zealand's interests are at stake.

For political reporters watching this closely, the pattern is clear. Luxon condemns the language, does not remove Peters from his role, and keeps his coalition options open. Whether that approach holds up under sustained international attention is the question that now sits behind the domestic one.