Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern 'surprised' at $12k bill for Winston Peters' farewell bash 22 Feb, 2021 10:48 PM 3 minutes to read Jason Walls is a political reporter for the New Zealand Heraldjason.walls@nzme.co.nz@Jasonwalls92 Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has admitted she was "surprised" at the almost $12,000 taxpayer-funded bill for former Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters' farewell bash at Parliament. She has asked officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mfat) to look into the bill to ensure it did actually cost as much as has been reported. This morning, the Herald revealed the event – where roughly 100 MPs and diplomats gathered to thank Peters for his time in the job – cost $11,733.