Key Points
- Jacinda Ardern's comment about the leader of the ACT party, David Seymour, was picked up by a hot mic.
- The New Zealand prime minister later apologised.
- Mr Seymour said the comment was "not the end of the world".
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has apologised for calling a minor opposition party leader an "arrogant pr--k".
Ms Ardern made the comment while being questioned by the leader of the libertarian ACT party, David Seymour, in the NZ parliament on Tuesday.
“Can the prime minister give an example of her making a mistake, apologising for it properly and fixing it?" Ms Seymour said.
Ms Ardern gave the example of the managed isolation and quarantine program during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying she would "do things differently if we were ever confronted by it again".
She then sat down next to her deputy prime minister Grant Robertson and said: "He's such an arrogant pr--k."
But Ms Ardern's microphone was still live while she made the quiet comment, which was drowned out by the Speaker of the house.
The remark was even recorded in the Hansard, which is a written record of the parliament proceedings.
Mr Seymour told reporters that Ms Arden had texted him and apologised.
"She said, as my mum would say, 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it'," he told Newshub.
"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."
