In the animal kingdom, many parasites die with their host. Act and NZ First should remember this – Liam Hehir

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Opinion

Opinion by

Liam Hehir

NZ Herald·

4 Nov, 2026 04:00 PM7 mins to read

Liam Hehir is a Palmerston North based lawyer and a National Party member and former activist.

Winston Peters' NZ First and its coalition colleague Act have been able to claim credit for government decisions popular with their own constituencies and to distance themselves from those they do not support.

Different beasts of the animal kingdom will sometimes work together to achieve different but compatible goals. A fish the size of a remora would normally flee a large shark, and a large shark would normally like to eat the remora. But by working together, the remora gets a free ride