“That’s the kind of man you are, Mr Seymour, and I don’t want to give you any more air time.”
Today, Seymour said some of Ardern’s policy decisions had been “dumb” and said his opinion had nothing to do with her gender.
Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni shot back, saying the comment was dumb of Seymour, and it was disrespectful to say such things on the former leader’s last week in Parliament.
Defence Minister Andrew Little also called Seymour out, saying it was a reflection on him and the misogyny that still prevailed in New Zealand.
Seymour and Ardern have a history of trading verbal blows, with Ardern infamously caught calling him an “arrogant prick” in December last year.
Regarding Ardern’s remark, Seymour said, “[she] texted me and said, ‘I apologise, it’s not something I should have said,’ and she said, ‘As my mum would say, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it’.
“I agree with the sentiment and it is all good as far as I am concerned. I just said, thank you and I hope you have a very merry Christmas. At the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world.”
Seymour had been asking Ardern a series of questions relating to senior Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta’s performance, hate speech reforms and other policies.
After answering, as Ardern took her seat, she could be heard saying to Robertson, who sits beside her: “Such an arrogant prick.”
Such remarks would ordinarily not be heard, but Ardern’s desk microphone picked up the comment.
The pair ultimately auctioned for the Prostate Cancer Foundation a jointly autographed transcript of the moment the comment was picked up and recorded on the parliamentary record Hansard.
