Prime Minister Chris Hipkins was hesitant to say whether Labour was a "party of farmers" at Fieldays as he continued to poke fun at Christopher Luxon for his comment that New Zealand had become "negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking".
MPs and party leaders from across the political spectrum are currently at the Southern Hemisphere's largest agriculture show in Hamilton.
Hipkins was quick to remind reporters of Luxon's remarks from earlier in the week, when asked how he found his reception at the Fieldays event.
"It's been mostly positive," he said.
"I haven't met anyone who's wet, I haven't met anyone who's whiny, I haven't met anyone who's inward-looking. I haven't met anyone who's really negative.
"Admittedly, I haven't run into Christopher Luxon yet."
Luxon made the remarks on Monday while announcing National's agricultural emissions reductions policies at a farm in Auckland earlier this week.
"We have become a very negative, wet, whiny, inward-looking country and we have lost the plot," he told a farmer.
"We've got to get our mojo back... a lot more ambition and aspiration."
After criticism, the opposition leader clarified a day later: "We've had a government that has actually taken New Zealanders and New Zealand backwards. That's what I was talking about yesterday".
The National leader announced his party's emissions reduction policy today. (Source: 1News)
With the election four months away, Labour is trying to retain some of its gains from the last election, which saw some rural votes swing red for the first time in decades.
Earlier today, Hipkins had been asked about whether he thought Labour was a "party of farmers", a phrase often used to describe the National Party.
"Labour is a party for all New Zealanders. We recognise when the farming sector is thriving, that's good for New Zealand, but we also recognise that the farming community have a really important role as kaitiaki of our natural resources to make sure we're preserving the environment for future generations as well," he said.
"Farmers work in the environment every day, they understand the effects of human-induced climate change because they see that every day, and so they have a role to play in mitigating that."
When pressed, he added: "Labour's the party for all New Zealanders, and that does include our farming community."
Meanwhile, in contrast, Christopher Luxon was keen to tell reporters that his party was "absolutely" the party of farmers.
"We've worked incredibly hard over many decades to be the party of farmers. We have a fantastic dilemma to manage. Our farmers are the most emissions-efficient in the world, our farmers are also the backbone of the New Zealand economy," he said.
"The answer is not to cull our herd and to destroy farming, because in doing so, we make global emissions no better, and we certainly make New Zealand infinitely poorer."
Keeping farming king while still achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 was the goal of National's agricultural emissions policy announced Monday.
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