Prime Minister Christopher Luxon fronts media after calls to stand ...

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has distanced himself from remarks made by Foreign Minister Winston Peters this morning which are being labelled “defamatory” by his former overseas counterpart.

Luxon was joined today by Education Minister Erica Stanford at Manurewa West Primary School as they announced plans to introduce structured literacy to the education curriculum.

Former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr has said Peters’ remarks made about him were “entirely defamatory” and that he would begin legal action.

Peters this afternoon confirmed he stood by his statements on Carr.

“Yes, particularly those comments that highlighted the fact that critics don’t know what they don’t know about the situation New Zealand faces,” Peters said.

Speaking following the Government’s education announcement, Luxon said the comments Peters made about Carr were “not ones I would make” but supported the Deputy Prime Minister on the “exceptionally good” job he was doing.

Luxon said he’s sure Carr “appreciates the rough and tumble of politics” after a long career as a Labor politician in Australia.

At a media stand-up in Auckland this morning, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Luxon should act swiftly to discipline Peters.

“He should stand Winston Peters down immediately. These sorts of allegations by a foreign affairs minister are unacceptable. They cannot be left unchallenged. Winston Peters cannot execute his duties as Foreign Affairs Minister while he has this hanging over him,” Hipkins said.

Peters’ office said in a statement that “the minister will respond if he receives formal notification of any such action”.

Carr is a well-known critic of the Aukus submarine deal and the non-nuclear Pillar 2 component of it that New Zealand is currently weighing up. Aukus is widely seen as a hedge by Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom against growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.

On RNZ’s Morning Report, Peters made remarks critical of Carr’s stance on Aukus and his relationship to China. Segments of the interview have been removed by RNZ from the version archived on their website.

A statement given to the Herald said: “Mr Carr said Mr Peters’ comments were entirely defamatory and he would commence legal action.”

Carr recently travelled to New Zealand to speak at a conference on Aukus hosted by the Labour Party.

Luxon was joined by Education Minister Erica Stanford at Manurewa West Primary School as they announce plans to introduce structured literacy to the curriculum.

Starting in term one of 2025, all state schools will be required to teach reading using the structured literacy approach.

The project has a $67 million price tag, which will pay for books and resources for teachers, support development for teachers and the introduction of phonics as well as additional support for students that require it.

Luxon described Stanford as his “very good friend” and said he was excited to make announcements that would lead to a world-class education system.

“For me personally, I’m a kid whose parents left school at 15 and 16,” Luxon said.

“I was the first in my family to ever go to university.”

Luxon said he wanted every kid, regardless of background, to get access to great education.

“The reality is academic achievement has been declining in schools for some time. We’ve set some pretty ambitious targets,” he said.

“Today we’re drawing a line in the sand and saying it’s time to do something very different.”

In an earlier statement, Stanford said that recent data showed 56 per cent of Year 8 students are at the expected level for reading, and just 35 per cent for writing.

“Structured literacy is about getting back to basics and teaching children to read by using sounds and phonics to understand words,” Stanford said.

“This Government has set an ambitious target of getting 80 per cent of Year 8 students to curriculum level by 2030, and teaching structured literacy is a critical part of how we plan to get there.

“Structured literacy goes hand-in-hand with our requirement for schools to teach an hour a day of reading, writing and maths, as well as implementing a curriculum that is rich in knowledge and clear about what students should be learning and when.”

She said New Zealand’s teachers are “amazing” and this will support them in delivering better outcomes for reading and writing.