Political experts have been left puzzled over the actions of NZ First leader, Winston Peters after making numerous online posts accusing then-Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern of hiding information, then refusing to apologise when proven wrong. 

Peters claimed in social media posts that New Zealand had only recently found out that the Prime Minister's office received information about the attack on March 15, 2019, before it happened.

But Ardern had publicly revealed at the time her office had indeed received the killer's manifesto nine minutes before the attack.

The day following the attack, Ardern told reporters she was "one of thirty recipients" of the manifesto which had been mailed out merely minutes before the attack unfolded. 

"It did not include the location or specific details, I'm advised within two minutes of its receipt, in at least my office it was conveyed to parliamentary staff."

Newstalk ZB political editor, Jason Walls told Heather Du Plessis-Allan Drive on Thursday there was no ambiguity in Ardern's comments when she made them. 

He said the idea of her office sitting on such sensitive, potentially harmful intel would be "enormously catastrophic" for the party's reputation at the time.

"Yes, there was probably nothing they could do - Ardern said it was likely nine minutes and then they passed it onto the relevant authorities," said Walls. 

"But for Winston to come out so strongly against this and then dig his heels in, it's exceptionally strange."

Walls said he would understand his actions a little better if the comments came during the election, with his attempts to build up further support with the fringe elements of New Zealand society. 

This was commonly seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

Peters spoke with NZ Herald political reporter, Thomas Coughlan about the posts and explained that as the chairman of the security committee, he should have been alerted to the fact that a foreign national was about to commit an act of terror. 

"But you know, as we said, there were only nine minutes so there wasn't a lot of time," said Walls.

What perplexed the political expert is why Peters refused to remove the post after being proven his comments were untrue and provided no apology to match. 

"We have people from all four corners of the political spectrum coming out and condemning him," said Walls. 

Among them was former deputy Prime Minister, Carmel Sepuloni who said Peters' comments were inappropriate and unnecessary, stating he's reached the point where he should be apologising for his behaviour. 

She went on, according to Walls, to claim it was Prime Minister-elect, Christopher Luxon's job to manage the relationship with Peters whilst special votes were counted and the Government coalition talks continue.

"This is a man who could be around the cabinet table, so the question has to be asked just what was he trying to gain from this," said Walls. 

"It's just a bizarre thing to do."