Act leader David Seymour responding to the PM calling him an arrogant little prick. Video / NZ Herald
A transcript of the moment Jacinda Ardern called Act Party leader David Seymour an “arrogant prick” under her breath in Parliament has been sold to Reefton veterinarian Julian Shorten for more than $100,000.
Shorten, 68, told Stuff he had been planning to buy a yacht, but his partner Gail wasn’tkeen on the idea so he decided to spend the money on the transcript.
Shorten said he hadn’t given much money to charity before and prostate cancer was a worthy cause, so he was making up for lost time with the bumper donation.
According to Trade Me, the framed page sold for a staggering $100,100.
Shorten told 1News that he will now have to take out a loan to help pay for the bid.
“I was fully expecting a flurry at the end. I thought, ‘Come on, somebody bid, somebody bid. I’m not sure I want this’,” he said.
Shorten said that overall he was happy with his purchase.
“I just couldn’t get past that [Ardern’s statement]. I thought, ’How would that have gone down 50 years ago?’ So that grabbed my attention and I thought, ‘This is a moment in New Zealand political history’.”
Last week, Ardern and Seymour revealed they would sign a copy of the Hansard page including the comment and auction it to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Trade Me spokeswoman Millie Silvester said that with 436,000 views, the auction was the most viewed listing of the year and the sixth most viewed Trade Me auction ever.
“The transcript knocked a flying hovercraft off our top-10 spot and now rubs shoulders with ‘Rocky’ the landscape boulder, a possessed printer and of course, our most viewed of all-time, the Roxy handbag that Tana Umanga used to hit Chris Masoe over the head with in a pub in Christchurch in 2006.”
Silvester added that as is the norm for charity auctions, Trade Me had waived the listing fee so that the total sum will go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
Seymour said last week that the move was a “very Kiwi resolution to what might be seen as a nasty incident”.
David Seymour and Jacinda Ardern have autographed a printout of Parliament's Hansard recording her calling him an "arrogant prick".
“In the spirit of Christmas, we are going to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation - raising money for pricks everywhere,” he said.
Seymour had bought a Briscoes frame for the page.
The comments were made in the House over a week ago when Ardern took her seat after answering questions from Seymour.
However, her remark would have gone unnoticed had it not been picked up by microphones and heard on Parliament TV.
After the Herald contacted Seymour about the remark, he raised a point of order in the House and asked for Ardern to formally apologise - which she did, while standing by what she said.
