Former minister Stuart Nash questioned and swore at Trade Minister Todd McClay in texts after Nash was dumped from a US trade trip over comments about women.
Nash stated a woman is a “person with a p***y and a pair of t**s” in a September interview with radio show The Platform, which he apologised for.
McClay later confirmed Nash was removed from an investment trip to the United States, “after it was decided his remarks about women would be an unwelcome distraction to the mission”.
McClay made the decision on September 11.
Texts from Nash have been released to Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act.
On September 11, at 8.58pm, Nash wrote to McClay: “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.”
On September 18, when media reported on Nash being “thrown off” the trade delegation, he again wrote to the Trade Minister.
Nash claimed a “deal” had been reached with New Zealand 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”.
However Invest NZ told the Herald McClay informed them “that Nash was not to participate in the delegation, Nash was informed of this and withdrew”.
Nash told McClay he was “so pissed off with your statement to Radio NZ” and called it “pretty f***ing amateur mate!!”.
Nash reiterated what he told RNZ, saying the story he was telling, which he stated was true, “is the one agreed”.
He then posted the response he had sent to the media outlet, which said Nash’s 13-year-old son had broken his leg and he had delayed his travel by three weeks.
On the remarks, McClay’s office said the minister had nothing further to say than what he already has, “in that he decided Mr Nash’s participation in the mission would be a distraction and that it would be unfair to other members of the delegation to need to respond to questions from potential US investors, especially women, about Mr Nash’s comments”.
The remark from Nash to The Platform about women came after he spoke at New Zealand First’s convention in Palmerston North, where leader Winston Peters suggested he could be a “seamless” addition to the party.
Responding to Nash’s comment about women, Peters said in a statement to Newstalk ZB, “the words used weren’t acceptable, and on that point, we agree with Mrs Nash, as does Stuart now he has reflected on them, and as he said so on The Platform”.
In a LinkedIn post, which appears to have since been deleted, Nash apologised for his “crude and disrespectful remark” and promised to rectify his actions.
In September, after the comments, Nash offered his resignation to the Taxpayers’ Union board, which was accepted.
His workplace at the time also launched a formal investigation into the comments, which it called “deeply inappropriate”.
On September 11, the day McClay made the decision to dump Nash from the trip, recruitment firm Robert Walters confirmed Nash was no longer with the company and would not be commenting further.
Nash has been contacted for comment.
Azaria Howell is a multimedia reporter working from Parliament’s press gallery. She joined NZME in 2022 and became a Newstalk ZB political reporter in late 2024, with a keen interest in public service agency reform and government spending.