Watch: Winston Peters savages 'stressed, nervous' Simon Bridges in Parliament roast

Simon Bridges had a bad Monday thanks to a devastating poll - and his week's not getting any better.

On Tuesday, Parliament heard the Prime Minister's first speech of 2019. It also witnessed the first public roast of the year, courtesy of Winston Peters.

After Mr Bridges concluded his response to Jacinda Ardern's statement, the Deputy Prime Minister got to his feet and did what he does best: verbally tear strips off one of his enemies.

He began by mocking National for drafting an amendment that the Speaker said was "not in proper form".

"It just about encapsulates what's going on in Opposition. Can't even draw and draft a motion to this House properly so it's acceptable.

"Why does Mr Bridges pick these special debates to publicly humiliate himself?" he went on.

His next comments were interrupted by Mr Bridges, who called out "tell us about China". It was a fatal mistake.

"I'll tell you about China, but not 'Choina'," Mr Peters retorted to uproarious laughter.

"I'm becoming an expert on China, but 'Choina', I don't know anything about that country unless a new rock has jumped up in the Pacific."

The comments were a jab at Mr Bridges' broad accent, which has been the butt of jokes ever since he took over as leader of the National Party a year ago.

It's not the first time Mr Peters has mocked his accent in Parliament - in July 2018, he ridiculed Mr Bridges' pronunciation of 'mining' as 'moining'.

The mockery caused much hilarity in the House, with even the Prime Minister struggling to hide her laughter as she covered her face.

Mr Peters went on to lambast Mr Bridges' "addled" speech as having "no vision, no plan, no answers, just some vacuous marketing announcements to keep the wolves from his own door".

"[It was] the most nervous and stressful speech that I've seen in a long, long time, and I've seen some stressful National Party people. But that one would take the cake."

He mocked Mr Bridges for saying National would repeal the UN Migration Pact, "which he and his colleagues signed up to".

He also criticised him for telling the media he didn't support the GCSB blocking Spark's bid to use Huawei equipment in its new 5G network, when his party passed the legislation.

Mr Bridges also mixed up his words when talking about the Government's fees free tertiary policy, a stumble which didn't escape Mr Peters. 

"You can't have free fees!" he mocked. "It's fees free! I'll say it slowly. That shows you how stressed out he is."

He said Mr Bridges was leading his party with "no business experience at all".

"He doesn't know what it's like to run a business. Doesn't know what it is to fill out monthly reports. Doesn't know how to pay wages. He's got no experience at all, unlike some of us."

When Mr Bridges heckled him about his own pre-politics career, which included a stint at Russell McVeagh in the 1970s, Mr Peters hit back.

"Sir, I made more money per month than a Parliamentary salary for a year. Everybody in a law firm knows that."

He then insulted Mr Bridges' legal career, which included working as a prosecutor in Tauranga and a litigation lawyer in Auckland.

"All he was [doing] was sitting behind a warrant that was in the Tauranga office. And he calls himself the prosecutor.

"No wonder so many people went free in Tauranga. No wonder they'd want to get out of the Rotorua Court and get to Tauranga as fast as possible, because there they will not see a decent lawyer in the form of Mr Bridges."

Newshub.