Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has told Parliament Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was "on fire yesterday", drawing laughter from both sides of the House during Question Time.
It somewhat took the sting out of questioning by National leader Simon Bridges about the cost of the new Auckland regional fuel tax on families.
"On behalf of the Prime Minister, who was on fire yesterday I might add, can I say that we've done the equations on the cost to families under the previous regime's rule and under ours, and it's a dramatic improvement for families today," Mr Peters said.
Mr Bridges struggled to contain his chuckling as he hit back: "So is it reality that when the Prime Minister said yesterday, 'every sane, sound economist disputes the hundreds of dollars' she was talking arrant poppycock?"
Mr Peters responded with a question to Mr Bridges about what he had said: "On behalf of the Prime Minister what we heard yesterday was an extraordinary statement. What we heard yesterday that we were going to get a thousand per year tax cuts for New Zealanders and families right?"
The exchange then saw the Speaker Trevor Mallard give the National Party two extra supplementary questions because of an interjection from the Labour side.
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