Stuart Nash.
Public outbursts by Napier MP and amalgamation opponent Stuart Nash have been criticised by pro-amalgamation advocates who have accused him of personal attacks.
In response, Mr Nash said members of pro-amalgamation group A Better Hawke's Bay (ABHB) need to "harden up".
The public mud-slinging has spilled on to this newspaper's online discussion forum.
In response to a Talking Point article by A Better Hawke's Bay chairman Rebecca Turner on Hawke's Bay Today's website, Mr Nash posted the following comment:
"I have never read such an absolute load of rubbish in this paper before. There is no way amalgamation will be good for the Bay in any way shape or form. One voice is Wgtn - what a load of bollocks.
"As someone who works there, 5 voices are better than one any day. If amalgamation occurs (and I doubt it will) I predict deamalgamation in 5 years as not one of the so-called 'promises' made by ABHB will be realised at all. In fact, quite the opposite."
Mr Nash then went on to challenge John Harrison, a founding member of ABHB who comments under the pseudonym Enid.
"And John Harrison: stop being so disingenuous and start posting under your own name as opposed to Enid. If you haven't the balls to put your name to comments, then disappear. The world will be better for it."
The comments follow a heated exchange between Mr Nash and pro-amalgamation supporter Lyn Williams after Hawke's Bay Today's Great Amalgamation Debate recently.
Ms Turner said she was calling Mr Nash to account after repeated personal attacks. It was inappropriate of Mr Nash to continue on a tirade of "aggressive rants".
"Mr Nash continues to get personal by slagging me off, but the reality is that it just takes the spotlight away from the real issue before the people of Hawke's Bay, which is that we have a very important decision on our hands.
"This is our once-in-a-generation chance for Hawke's Bay to put a strong and effective governance structure in place for our region's future."
Ms Turner said Mr Nash's comments at the debate were "personal".
"Another example of his poor form," she said, "and he was mistaken - I had not uttered a word.
"Whether you're for or against amalgamation, there is no need to get personal just because someone doesn't share the same views."
Mr Nash responded saying the ABHB group needed to "harden up". He didn't believe he was getting too personal.
"Every time I got up to speak, Rebecca or her husband made snide comments and I was sick to death of it. So I called her out at the debate."
Mr Nash said Ms Turner had the chance to participate but decided not to.
"When she chose not to then she forwent her ability to put her point of view forward."
However, Ms Turner's husband Lyn Williams denied either his wife or himself heckled Mr Nash at the debate. He said he approached Mr Nash after the debate to defend his wife.
That is when, according to both men, the situation developed into a slanging match, with Mr Williams calling Mr Nash a "lying arse" and Mr Nash allegedly telling Mr Williams to "F-Off".
"And the reason he did that is he is not used to being called out when he lies," said Mr Williams.
"Because he is a poster boy who stands up and thinks he can say what he likes and that people will believe him."
Mr Nash denied using an obscenity.
"First of all I wouldn't ever use those words in public even if I wanted," the MP countered.
"For no other reason than people don't expect their politicians to behave like that."
So how did it get to this point? Mr Nash said he had a couple of issues with ABHB's stance from the start.
"This was a proposal that was put forward by a very small group of unelected rather wealthy business people that had no mandate from anyone at all to do what they were doing," he said.
In response to Mr Nash's comments about him online, Mr Harrison said he thought the whole situation was "absolutely appalling".
He backed up Mr Williams saying neither he nor Ms Turner had said anything during the debate.
"Stuart Nash is too thinned-skinned to be a politician representing our region," he said.
"At Hawke's Bay Today's amalgamation meeting he publicly abused Rebecca Turner when she had not said anything."
Mr Nash reiterated that the debate was not getting too personal.
"I have had a whole lot worse in the past and I am sure I will get a whole lot worse in the future," he said.