Kiwi comedian Guy Williams has confronted the North Island man who chopped the phallus off a Māori carving with a new statue, which has a retractable, robotic penis.
In an episode of Three's New Zealand Today on Thursday night, Williams went to meet Milton Wainwright - the Woodville willy whacker - who was convicted of wilful damage of the statue in 2019.
The 80-year-old, who is devoutly religious and runs an organ museum in the small town, used a chainsaw to chop off the carving's member on a walking track in the Manawatu Gorge, leaving local iwi distraught.
At the time, Wainwright insisted he was doing God's work. He doubled down on that while speaking to New Zealand Today, describing the carving's phallus as "grossly exaggerated" and "disgusting".
"It reached right to the knee... When I first saw it I thought, 'whatever is that - has that thing got three legs?'" he told Williams. "New Zealand law forbids putting indecent stuff in public."
But Wainwright seemed to be in the minority of people who took issue with the carving's giant phallus. Most other Woodville locals Williams spoke to seemed unperturbed.
This prompted Williams to create a statue prototype that would leave everyone satisfied; a statue that could put the penis on show for people who didn't mind seeing it, but hide it for those who might be offended.
The solution? A papier mache statue with a retractable, robotic penis.
Most Woodville residents who tested it out seemed to enjoy the experience - but Williams still had to show it to Wainwright, who he knew would be his toughest critic.
Unfortunately, however, the project was ultimately a failure.
Wainwright wasn't a fan, and after a painfully long silence, told Williams he hated it, leaving him with no choice but to move on to the next town.
Watch Thursday night's full episode on ThreeNow. The next episode of New Zealand Today will air on Three at 9pm next Thursday.
