Police Minister Stuart Nash has declined to fight his National Party counterpart in the ring in aid of a mental health charity.
National's police spokesman Mark Mitchell challenged Nash to the fight as part of Fight for Life earlier this month.
Fight for Life, which is scheduled for April, aims to raise funds for the I Am Hope charity, which focuses on supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
Speaking to media this morning, Nash said people in his Napier constituency were dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle and his "number one priority" was to get Hawke's Bay through that.
"I'm in the middle of an electorate that has been completely smashed by a massive big cyclone and there are a whole lot of my people who are still without homes, there's a whole lot of my people who have lost a substantial part of their livelihood.
"I think if the people of the Napier electorate saw me in a gym training for a boxing match when they're out there struggling and wanting help from their local MP and a Minister of the Crown, they wouldn't be terribly impressed."
"I used to do boxing training... you have to be incredibly fit to do three rounds.
"If you're going to do it, you've got to do it properly and I just haven't got the time."
Nash said it was a good cause and he would make a donation.
"As the Minister of Police I suspect it's not the best way I can support mental health and wellbeing by getting in the ring and beating the living daylights out of Mark Mitchell."
Asked if it was because he was scared of losing, Nash laughed and said: "I'm scared of a few things, I'm not scared of Mark Mitchell."
Mitchell said he was "really disappointed that Nashie hasn't taken up the challenge".
"I was just down in the Hawke's Bay last week... the devastation in what they're facing in the rebuild there is massive. Stress, anxiety and depression are going to be big issues they're going to have to face and deal with. There's no better time in my view than right now as entering into a charity boxing match to fight for them, to make sure that an important charity like I Am Hope has got the ability to actually provide the services they need."
Mitchell said taking on training for the match didn't mean a person couldn't also still do their day job.
"It just means you've got to get up an hour earlier in the morning to do a bit of training."
Mitchell said the cause was very personal as he had lost his own brother to suicide.
"Do I want to get in a ring and fight three rounds? Not really. But it's the cause, and that's the whole purpose."
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