New Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has accused David Seymour of commenting on her appearance during attacks in a fiery AM interview on Monday morning.
The interview came a day after Swarbrick was announced as the new Green Party co-leader after overwhelmingly winning a leadership battle to replace James Shaw.
ACT leader David Seymour also confirmed on Sunday landlords will again be able to deduct interest costs on their mortgages against rental income after the previous Labour Government phased it out.
During their respective press conferences on Sunday, the pair traded barbs with Swarbrick accusing the coalition Government of "bully boy behaviour".
Seymour then offered Swarbrick advice, saying a "massive salad of soundbites" is not going to cut it as co-leader.
AM co-host Melissa Chan-Green asked if either regretted any of the "mudslinging" when the pair appeared for their weekly political panel.
Seymour quickly said he "very rarely" had any regrets about his comments before Swarbrick accused the ACT Party leader of using her appearance in attacks.
"I've been debating David since I was 22 years old and of late he's made comments about the way that I say certain things, about my smile and most recently, he's taken issue with the fact that I really love evidence," Swarbrick told AM.
"But I'd really like to talk about the things that I am saying and the evidence that I'm talking about and the kind of vision that both of us have for the future of this country."
But Seymour quickly hit back saying the accusations were untrue before Swarbrick added "I can give you the receipts".
"You said on that couch over there about a year ago that I would 'say nice things with a nice smile, but what I have to say is dangerous'. So, again, I think that was explicitly quite about my appearance, nonetheless," Swarbrick said.
Seymour made the comments on AM in July last year when he and Swarbrick were discussing New Zealand's rental market.
"Chlöe's nice, she'll smile, it'll sound great, 'we're fighting for you' and their policies will have the opposite effect of what they promise," Seymour said on AM in July last year.
"That's why they're [the Greens] so dangerous and that's why they have to be kept out of Government."
Swarbrick took exception to the comments at the time, quickly hitting back saying they were "deeply patronising".
But Seymour was adamant that he had never attacked Swarbrick's appearance.
"Absolutely was not [about her appearance], I said it sounds good if you say it smiling, but you've got to look back through the details," Seymour responded on AM on Monday morning.
"That's not a question about the person or their appearance at all. It's a challenge that there has to be substance and what I've said consistently is you can say things that sound good, that are well practised.
"Chlöe is a talented politician, with some amazing political attributes that many politicians would like to have, but my challenge is you can't continue running this line that someone, somewhere has done too well and if only we rise up and take it off them will we be a better place because that's not a way forward."
Seymour was then asked for his thoughts on Swarbrick accusing the coalition Government of "bully boy behaviour".
"It's that kind of sloganeering, it's personal attacks and it's kind of gendered language, which I didn't think you'd get from the Greens. They're usually against that," Seymour replied.
Watch the full interview above.
