Chris Hipkins' attempt to catch out Christopher Luxon's alleged hypocrisy over the Clean Car Discount has seen Speaker Gerry Brownlee warn MPs after the Prime Minister's wife was mentioned.
It came as Luxon faced more questions about his taxpayer-funded te reo lessons in question time today, as his family's Tesla again drew focus.
In the jousting exchange, the PM said the questions about his family's Tesla concerning the now-repealed Clean Car Discount were the "affairs of my wife" and therefore unrelated to his job.
Then, after being accused of breaking conventions around bringing up the family of MPs, Hipkins responded: "I want to be very clear, based on the accusation, I did not bring Christopher Luxon's wife into the debate."
In June, Luxon came under criticism after the Clean Car Discount rebates were claimed against his family's Tesla. National has long opposed the EV subsidies. At the time, he backtracked on previous claims to ownership of the car and instead said it was his wife's.
The two Chrises joust in Parliament
Luxon began proceedings in question time by concluding his first answer with a jibe at Hipkins. The PM teased the prospect of a leadership coup by Labour MP Kieran McAnulty, who has been tipped as a contender to become leader in any future race.
He said: "Could I just make another statement by wishing the member a very Merry Christmas and the very best of luck in the New Year in whatever role Kieran McAnulty gives him."
The line drew laughter and applause from Luxon's side of the House as Hipkins responded: "Merry Christmas to him too."
He went on to shift the focus of the debate onto the PM's te reo lessons, which the opposition leader said yesterday was "absolute hypocrisy" as Luxon had previously criticised public sector bonuses for proficiency in the language.
Hipkins then pivoted to the months-old controversy of the Luxon family Tesla, following the Government's repeal of Labour's Clean Car Discount scheme earlier this week.
The opposition leader pointed to statements where Luxon appeared to suggest the car was his own, and queried whether he would consider repaying any rebates he's received.
The National leader has previously criticised the policy, saying it only benefits "wealthy Tesla owners". (Source: Breakfast)
Hipkins asked: "Will he pay back the more than $8000 he's received from the Clean Car Discount his Government has now repealed?"
Luxon responded: "As I've previously explained, the car is owned by my wife.
"Those are her financial affairs. I wouldn't bring the affairs of your family member into public discourse because she's not a public figure."
Brownlee then weighed in on the debate, suggesting "I think it's actually very fair point that should be taken on board … there has been a fairly long-standing convention in this House not to bring family members into the debate."
Hipkins responded: "The now-prime minister claimed that he owned the car himself.
"If a minister mentions the family in the answer to a question in order to avoid answering the question, it is legitimate to therefore ask them follow-up statements about their own statements."
Leader of the House and National MP Chris Bishop raised a point of order: "This is wholly absurd. Firstly, the line of questioning is out of order, because it relates to matters that are not within the Prime Minister's responsibility.
"Secondly, notwithstanding that clear statement of the obvious, the Prime Minister has deigned to provide a commentary in which he has said that the matter that the member is referring to relates to a family member.
"I would encourage members opposite to uphold the long-standing convention."
That's when Hipkins said he didn't "bring Christopher Luxon's wife into the debate".
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