Finance Minister Nicola Willis says she's accepted Barbara Edmonds' apology after Labour's finance spokesperson referred to her as a "duck-faced horse".
The comment was made during a media question-and-answer training exercise at a Labour candidate list conference over the weekend.
During the exercise, MPs were asked: "Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?"
In leaked audio sent to media, Edmonds replied, "Every week I have to stand up in the House and ask a duck-faced horse – did I get that right? – questions every single week".
The MP for Mana today told RNZ she felt "terrible about it".
"I do apologise for any offence that it caused," she said.
"Especially to the Minister of Finance. That was not my intention, and I apologise for it."
Labour leader Chris Hipkins, who was not at the event, told reporters the audio leak was a "good reminder that all of these events are public events, even if they're internal party events".
"MPs and candidates need to be aware that the information could be shared more widely."
In a tongue-in-cheek response this evening, Willis said she accepted the minister's apology, adding that it was "water off a duck's back, really".
Willis added that the "bigger revelation" from the training camp was Labour's "utter disdain for answering the public's genuine policy questions".
"The duck-horse antics came from a session in which MPs and candidates were being coached on a formula for avoiding answering voters' questions.
"I think Kiwis are too smart to be fooled by that kind of horse play."
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