| WELLINGTON – New Zealand First leader Winston Peters broke down in front of journalists yesterday after a relentless barrage of questions revealing the truth surrounding his now-infamous taxi journey, which he fled from without paying the fare.
“Okay, okay,” a tear-stricken Peters sobbed in front of Parliament’s packed pressroom, “You got me. We were on the piss. Me, Kegsie, Spader and Detox were sinking jugs down at this student bar on Lambton Quay. Spader scored this wicked chick, as he always does, and me and Kegsie and Detox ended up getting munted. After the pub shut we set about returning home. I had a meeting with a parliamentary select committee the following morning at any rate. We stopped for a kebab (though I had paua patties cos I don’t like those foreign Muslim foods) before hailing a taxi up to our respective flats in Karori.” Stunned journalists listened intently as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga continued. “It was Detox’s idea, actually, cos he’d spent all his pingers on his kebab and a few games of spacies. We told the driver, who was lost and couldn’t speak good enough English to be driving a cab in Wellington in the first place, to pull up a couple of blocks short. Detox yelled out “Runner!” and we were off. We split up in three different directions and the last I heard was the driver yelling out “Hey, stop!” in a strange African accent.” The usually smug Peters confirmed he wouldn’t resign over the issue. He has apologized to the taxi company concerned and has paid back the $12.40 fare, though they are still seeking $50 costs for cleaning smeared paua patties from the vehicle’s rear seat.  |
| Peters comes clean over taxi ‘runner’ |
Friday, 01 August 2003 12:00
