Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Trade Minister Todd McClay dodges questions on alleged ‘deal’ after swearing Stuart Nash text messages

Julia Gabel
Julia Gabel
Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·
8 Oct, 2025 03:06 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Trade Minister Todd McClay - "this is the least important thing I have to deal with”. Photo / Marty Melville

Trade Minister Todd McClay - "this is the least important thing I have to deal with”. Photo / Marty Melville

Trade Minister Todd McClay is refusing to answer questions about allegations a deal was made to not tell the media the truth about why former minister Stuart Nash was dumped from a United States trade trip.

McClay cut Nash from the trip over comments the former Labour minister made about women.

In a September interview with radio show The Platform, Nash stated a woman is a “person with a p***y and a pair of t**s”. Nash apologised for the comments.

Texts from Nash to McClay, obtained by NewstalkZB under the Official Information Act, include: “So have you really thrown me off this delegation because of something I said on Tuesday but have completely owned and accepted responsibility and apologised fulsomely for??? WTF”.

It was followed by a second text from Nash: “I’ve pulled out”.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Nash claimed a “deal” had been reached with NZ Trade and Enterprise chief executive Peter Chrisp, now interim chief executive of Invest NZ, in which Nash would withdraw from the trip and “the story would not be that I was asked to withdraw”.

Former Police Minister Stuart Nash during his valedictory speech in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Former Police Minister Stuart Nash during his valedictory speech in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

McClay refused to directly answer several questions from reporters at Parliament this afternoon on the allegations of a “deal”.

“You should take that up with him, it wasn’t communication between us, I never responded to him.”

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

McClay said the concerned entity for this particular trip was Invest NZ rather than NZ Trade and Enterprise.

The communications were released to Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act.
The communications were released to Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act.

McClay did say: “I grew up in Taupō playing rugby, people say all sorts of things. I’m not going to be precious about it ... I’m dealing with councils who are putting costs up for consents on farmers, we have got a film industry that could face 100% tariffs from the US and we’re negotiating a trade deal with India – 1.5 billion people – this is the least important thing I have to deal with”.

He reiterated having Nash on the trip would have been a distraction

“Ultimately, he may swear, that’s his business ... there are many other things that are more important to the Government than talking about Stuart Nash’s text messages.”

Nash suggested the Trade Minister was being "amateur" while swearing at him.
Nash suggested the Trade Minister was being "amateur" while swearing at him.

McClay walked away from reporters as they continued to question him about the alleged “deal”.

The controversial remark from Nash to The Platform about women came after he spoke at NZ First’s convention in Palmerston North, where leader Winston Peters suggested he could be a “seamless” addition to the party.

NZ First leader Winston Peters and former Labour minister Stuart Nash sitting at the same table at the party’s annual conference in Palmerston North. Photo / Mark Mitchell
NZ First leader Winston Peters and former Labour minister Stuart Nash sitting at the same table at the party’s annual conference in Palmerston North. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Peters told reporters he had not seen the story so could not comment.

“I’m sorry sunshine, you should have sent it to me earlier. If you send me a copy now ... I’ll go and study it carefully.”

One reporter produced large printed images of the texts while another told Peters they had texted the story to him about an hour ago.

“With all the things that are happening around the world and in this country, you ask pissant questions like that.”

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Nash was sacked from Cabinet and stripped of all portfolios after disclosing confidential information from a Cabinet meeting to two businessmen, both former donors.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Peters and McClay needed to be “very upfront” about any deal that had been made.

When asked about how he felt about Nash potentially re-joining Parliament given his interest in NZ First, Hipkins said: “He seems a long way away from [being in Government] at the moment”.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Suspicious substance found in the post at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison

08 Oct 03:12 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

No long-term hangover after wine spill into Napier’s Ahuriri Estuary

08 Oct 02:29 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Council land used by Scouts and potters up for sale

08 Oct 01:14 AM

Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Suspicious substance found in the post at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison
Hawkes Bay Today

Suspicious substance found in the post at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison

Mail room find prompts evacuation as firefighters removed and disposed of the envelope.

08 Oct 03:12 AM
No long-term hangover after wine spill into Napier’s Ahuriri Estuary
Hawkes Bay Today

No long-term hangover after wine spill into Napier’s Ahuriri Estuary

08 Oct 02:29 AM
Council land used by Scouts and potters up for sale
Hawkes Bay Today

Council land used by Scouts and potters up for sale

08 Oct 01:14 AM


Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable
Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP