Winston Peters doesn't back away from Bob Carr criticisms as ...

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was in the firing line on Thursday for comments he made on radio while speaking about New Zealand's position on AUKUS.   

On Wednesday night, he gave a major speech on foreign policy, during which he planned to set the AUKUS debate straight.   

But not before a lone protester caught his eye. He asked the woman, who held an anti-AUKUS sign, to sit down. She refused and security carried her out and forced her into the rain.    

"I wasn't shouting or speaking loudly," she told Newshub afterwards.    

New Zealand's been exploring Pillar 2 of AUKUS - which is about advanced technologies - but Peters said we've not even received the necessary invite. He's also irked by what he believes is Labour's changing tune.  

"Pillar 2 discussions were initiated by Labour," he said.  

David Parker, Labour's foreign affairs spokesperson, said Labour had been investigating AUKUS, but Peters had been "very pro-AUKUS in his language".   

Peters also said the Government was "disquieted by any potential breakdown in foreign policy bipartisanship".   

Peters took his cracks at AUKUS opponents even further on Wednesday morning with comments about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr on RNZ that Labour's David Parker later repeated in the House.   

"His statement about Honourable Bob Carr that quotes, he is nothing more than a Chinese puppet," Parker said in the House.    

Peters later in response said: "I refer to an article in the Australian Financial Review dated November 8, 2018 that anticipated my remarks. It says 'how Bob Carr became China's pawn'".   

Carr was at Parliament for Labour's anti-AUKUS event last month and was asked if he was blind to China's threat.   

"I have criticised China for militarising artificial structures in the South China Sea. I believe extincition of legal autonomy for Hong Kong was wrong," he said.    

Carr's office told Newshub Winston Peters' remarks on RNZ were defamatory. The former Australian politician has told RNZ he intends to take legal action but Peters has pointed out that others have threatened to take him to court before - and not followed through.   

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said: "It is embarrassing for New Zealand. It shows Winston Peters has abused his office as Minister of Foreign Affairs. This now becomes a problem for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. He should stand Winston Peters down immediately."   

But Luxon said: "They're not comments I would make. They are comments in the rough and tumble of politics. He is doing an exceptional job."   

Carr later said in a statement to Newshub that Peters was "trying to sell New Zealanders a reversal of their non-nuclear principles".  

"This is a 30-year policy that has been supported by both sides of New Zealand politics," he said. 

"Members of his own party harbour doubts about such a big shift. Certainly the New Zealand Labour Opposition does, which is why I was proud to accept an invitation to their forum in Parliament House on April 18 with Helen Clark, distinguished former Prime Minister and UN diplomat." 

The Prime Minister has previously said New Zealand's nuclear-free stance was "non-negotiable".