New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Auctions Off “Arrogant Prick” Comment For Cancer Charity

The auction, titled,” Ardern, Seymour join forces for pricks everywhere” ends on December 22.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is auctioning off a transcript of a parliamentary exchange in which she called a political opponent an “arrogant prick”. The auction is being done to raise money for a prostate cancer charity. 

According to The Guardian, the copy of the parliamentary record, signed by both Ms Ardern and David Seymour, who is the leader of the libertarian right Act party, had reached NZ $50,000 (over Rs 26.3 lakh) by Friday in an online auction, titled “Ardern, Seymour join forces for pricks everywhere”. The auction ends on December 22, as per the outlet.  

Jacinda Ardern’s comment was caught on camera during parliamentary question time on Tuesday. Mr Seymour had asked a series of questions about whether the Prime Minister stood by all of her statements and policies. He also asked Ms Ardern if she could “give an example of her making a mistake, apologising for it properly, and fixing it”. 

To this, Ms Ardern then gave an impassioned, detailed response. Then as she sat down, she muttered “such an arrogant prick” which was picked up by the microphones in parliament. 

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Following the incident, Mr Seymour petitioned for an apology from the speaker as the comment was entered into New Zealand’s parliamentary record, known as Hansard. As per the outlet, the Prime Minister texted an apology to her political opponent, who then came up with the idea of joining forces to raise money for charity. 

“In the spirit of a Kiwi Christmas, two political foes unite to raise money for a good cause,” the auction website read. The winning buyer will receive “a framed printout of the parliamentary Hansard co-signed by the Rt. Hon. prime minister, Jacinda Ardern and one-time arrogant prick, Act party Leader David Seymour,” it added. 

Separately, speaking to AFP, Mr Seymour said, “We are thrilled it’s got such good support” He also added that he hoped the signed document would go for a lot of money.