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Simon Bridges unfazed by Greens' attack ad: 'It's a little bit silly'

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 23 Jul 2019, 5:15PM
The ad made fun of Simon Bridges' accent. (Photo / RNZ)

Simon Bridges unfazed by Greens' attack ad: 'It's a little bit silly'

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 23 Jul 2019, 5:15PM

National Party leader Simon Bridges says that he is not offended by an attack ad from the Green Party.

The Greens have pulled an attack ad taking the mickey out of Simon Bridges' accent, portraying him as a car salesman looking at the merits of clean and dirty cars.

Going into Parliament this afternoon Greens co-leader James Shaw defended the ad, saying it used humour to show how absurd Bridges claims were.

Coming out of Parliament just over an hour later, he said the ad was no more.

"We took a risk, we thought it was acceptable but we've got some feedback from our members and supporters, we do listen to them, so that's why we pulled it." 

However, Bridges told Heather du Plessis-Allan that he liked it.

"I think it's a little bit silly, but clearly James' supporter didn't."

He says that he does not want an apology from Shaw, saying that he enjoys what he does. 

Bridges says that this is the first time both Labour and Greens have used attack ads against them, which shows that they are feeling the pressure from National. 

"I'm holding the Government to account on all of their taxes, they want to hold me to account on my accent, that's fair enough."

The ad was targeting the National Party's record on the environment, as they have not voted in favour of the Zero Carbon Bill and have spoken out against the Emissions Trading Scheme and the Clean Car Budget.

Bridges rejected that they were against the environment, arguing that he did significant work in favour of the environment while serving as Minister of Energy and Transport. 

"I've done more than this entire Government has in some months." 

However, he says he would not vote in support of a climate emergency. 

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