This time, fending off accusations that his proposals suffered from a lack of input from the rural sector, Orr shot back that, as part of extensive and exhausting consultations, his colleagues had eaten asparagus rolls in wool sheds.
For observers of the Reserve Bank, and in particular the debate over capital, this was a sign of how far Orr has come, or perhaps, the best evidence that the governor's wings have been clipped.
Earlier in a year of debating the Reserve Bank's proposals, Orr may have shot down questions forcefully, but he now appears to be on his best behaviour.
In return for a final decision which offered considerable concessions compared to that proposed in December, the banking sector has also backed off from the shrill warnings delivered a few months ago.
"Today's announcement provides our banks with certainty on the amount and type of capital they will need to hold in future, and brings an end to a robust consultation," NZ Bankers' Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said on Thursday.
Robust is an understatement.
When Orr came to the central bank from the Super Fund, he initially acknowledged that it had work to do to improve its relationship with the banks, pointing to feedback received from the sector via a report from the New Zealand Initiative.
"We need to think much harder about how we behave, how we roll, how we explain, how we do things," he told Stuff in 2018.
But by the middle of 2019 the sector was on the verge of warfare with its regulator, with banks and business groups lobbing warnings that the move would cost consumers, slow the economy and could see banks pull back from lending in New Zealand in a major way.
Initially it seemed Orr was keen to shock the banks, dropping much stiffer than expected proposals just before Christmas.
But in the early part of the year he seemed rattled, with numerous stories of him becoming confrontational with those who questioned him.
From time to time the strain appeared to show in public.
At an earlier Reserve Bank press conference Orr rebuked experienced BusinessDesk journalist Jenny Ruth and refused to take her questions, an extraordinary move from an official whose central job is communication.
It was not the only time Orr has pushed back publicly at the media, nor was it the strangest.
Back in May at a select committee appearance, National's Paul Goldsmith asked Orr about criticism he had faced for not giving speeches on monetary policy, a traditional of his predecessors.
Orr responded rather reasonably that while he hadn't, many of his colleagues had, while the Reserve Bank published plenty of its thinking on its website.
But he then went on to complain that some of the criticism he was receiving was personal "and in the era of Me Too, it is so unnecessary", going on to ask journalists to think carefully about who they quoted (a sign of frustration at the criticism of former Reserve Bank official turned blogger, Michael Reddell).
His comments were noticed by Wellington employment lawyer Steph Dyhrberg, a staunch critic of law firm culture in the wake of the Russel McVeagh scandal, who shot Orr down.
"Adrian Orr #metoo is about sexual assault," Dyhrberg wrote on a Facebook post of Orr's appearance.
"I don't think it is appropriate for you to reference this in relation to media criticism of your performance of your role."
As the submissions on the capital plan came in, the warnings of the impact on lending were a headache the Government did not need, at a time when business confidence was sliding and economic growth slowing.
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson both brought the issue to a head and helped achieve calm, issuing a statement virtually pleading for calm.
"I am calling on all interested participants to listen to and work with each other constructively as this work is carried out," Robertson said in a statement.
The statement was taken at the time by many to be aimed at the banks, and in particular ANZ, which infuriated the Beehive when it did nothing to undermine reporting that its submission amounted to a warning that it may pull back from New Zealand if the capital proposals went ahead.
But Robertson's statement appeared to also include the regulator, suggesting frustration at the bank's approach to the fractious process.
Likely combined with increasing focus on his approach, the governor has taken a far more restrained approach in the months since.
This week when Orr appeared again before MPs, he signalled a focus in 2020 on the conduct of the insurance industry.
When Goldsmith, National's finance spokesman, asked Orr if he had any comment on his own conduct or reflection on his behaviour, Orr simply refused to comment.
Robertson is once again urging the regulator and the sector to focus on implementing the capital plan.
With his Government heading into an election year hoping to argue that the economy is, while slowing, continuing to deliver for New Zealand, he will be hoping that the recent détente in the financial system is enduring.
