Local Board member Derek Battersby in hot water after inflammatory comments about Women's Minister Julie Anne Genter

Whau Local Board member Derek Battersby has apologised after calling Minister for Women Julie-Anne Genter a "silly bitch". Photo / Supplied

An Auckland Council local board member has found himself in hot water after calling a Government minister a "silly bitch" and saying she should stay at home to "look after the kids".

Derek Battersby, a Whau Local Board member, took to Facebook a few weeks ago to air his grievances about statements Women's Minister Julie Anne Genter said in a Stuff article.

The article, published on March 22, quoted Genter saying that old white men need to "move on" from company boards to help close the gender pay gap.

"Some of them need to move on and allow for diversity and new talent," she said, later clarifying she had "no problem with old white men" on company boards generally.

Elected local board member Derek Battersby's post on Facebook. Photo / Facebook

Battersby took to Facebook the following day, posting a link to the article and calling Genter a "silly bitch".

"Silly Bitch.. Old men save us from Hitler in the Second World War. She should say [sic] at home a [sic] look after the kids," he posted.

Since the post, the appropriateness of Battersby's statement has been questioned due to his position as an elected local board member.

When approached by the Herald, he said he had since deleted all questionable posts from his social media account.

"In future I will be more prudent in choice of words," he said.

Women's Minister Julie Anne Genter said old white men need to "move on" from company boards to help close the gender pay gap. Photo / Mark Mitchell

In an apology on Facebook Battersby wrote, "First my Facebook page is under my own name second free speech is my right.

"However, I can be over the top at times and seeing a number of my posts clipped together in a file caused me concern so I do apologise to those I may have offended and removed those posts."

Julie Anne Genter told the Herald that, "If being a bitch means being a working pregnant woman, striving for equality for everyone, then I'll take it".

"I don't think his views are representative of most New Zealanders, or his constituents," she said.

"I hope people take his extreme views into consideration the next time they are voting, that's democracy.

"I do think older men have a lot to contribute, but I think other people do too.

"In order to get greater diversity, we are going to need to get more women and greater ethnic mix on boards. Some people may need to make room for this new talent and diversity."