Judith Collins has scathingly addressed widespread criticism suggesting she exploits her husband's ethnicity as a "shield" against accusations of racism, calling the backlash "disgusting".
During the leaders' debate on September 22, Aorere College head girl Aigagalefili Fepulea'i Tapua'i asked the candidates what each would do in response to high school students being forced to abandon their education to support their families amid the economic fallout of COVID-19.
"My husband is Samoan so, talofa," Collins initially responded.
"We've got to get people into trades [and] we've got to get them education," she continued, revealing that her Chinese-Samoan husband, David Wong Tung, had also been encouraged to leave school by his family in order to find employment.
Yet the Opposition leader was raked over the coals online, with social media users accusing Collins of "weaponising" her husband's ethnicity as a "shield" against accusations of racism - which have dogged the Papakura MP in the past.
Even Fepulea'i Tapua'i was unimpressed with Collins' comment, calling it "clownery".
"Judith did not just say, 'Fili I understand, my husband is Samoan'," she vented on social media.
Speaking to Tagata Pasifika on Saturday, Collins blasted the suggestions as "disgusting" and "disgraceful".
"I was really disgusted, actually. I thought, how dare people try to disrespect my husband like that," she told host Alistar Kata.
"He is Samoan - not only is he Samoan, he was born in Samoa, raised in Samoa, grew up in a little village on Savai'i with his grandma. How dare people disrespect my husband like that. I just thought that was disgraceful."
She also revealed greater insight into her husband's upbringing in Samoa, elaborating on the anecdote she had offered during the leaders' debate.
"I do have an understanding about Samoan families and what he grew up with. And yeah, he did run away from home at 15 - why? Because he went to his aunty and he wanted to go back to school," Collins explained.
"His father wanted him to leave school and go and get a job in a factory like [he] did. He wanted to stay at school because he had aspirations, and that is exactly what I was saying to that young woman. I was saying, you know, you don't have to not be at school. There are choices.
"[My husband] went on to become a police officer and then he went on to do university work, he became a lawyer, he did a MBA - a Masters in Business Administration - and he's a businessperson. You don't have to have the same jobs as your parents, you've got to take charge [of] your own life."
Earlier this year, it emerged that Wong Tung had been subjected to racist abuse online after sharing numerous memes on social media opposing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her bid for re-election.
The posts, described by Twitter users as "aggressive misogyny", sparked a number of discriminatory comments against Wong Tung - including one that compared him to "an ape".
Collins herself faced accusations of racism last year after a widely panned social media blunder.
The National MP took to Twitter to express support for a Bill proposing the prohibition of female genital mutilation, jointly sponsored by MPs Jo Hayes, Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Jenny Marcroft and Golriz Ghahraman - all women of colour.
"MPs band together for female genital mutilation ban," Collins tweeted. "I am a woman of colour - the colour white - and I fully support a ban on this mutilation inflicted on women."
The tweet was later deleted after Collins was informed of its offensive nature.
In May, Collins was again embroiled in controversy when she claimed she was "sick of being demonised" for her ethnicity during a hearing of Parliament's Finance and Expenditure Committee.
