Broadcaster Ryan Bridge has hit back at National leader Judith Collins for implying The AM Show has a lack of diversity, amid questions about how she's going to address the issue within her own party.
The issue of National's diversity came up again earlier this week when Magic Talk's Peter Williams said photos he saw of delegates at the party's AGM at the weekend depicted "a hell of a lot of sameness" and lots of middle-aged white men.
Collins responded to Williams that there was "nothing wrong with middle-aged white people" and complained the media "gave almost no coverage" of the Pacific delegates who attended the meeting.
The AM Show host Bridge pushed Collins on the matter again on Wednesday morning, asking her what she would do to ensure the National will look more diverse. He agreed with Williams' point, saying the party looks "on camera" like lots of white people.
"Well, actually, come back to The AM Show, how do you look?" Collins responded.
"Well, I'm gay - so that counts for something," Bridge shot back.
Collins said the party did have some diversity but admitted there wasn't enough in some of the key electorate seats.
She said the party would need to select diverse candidates in winnable seats at the next election.
The party also had to reconnect "much better" with New Zealanders, she said.
"Things have changed."
"Obviously, a big loss that we had [at the election] meant that we lost a lot of list MPs and that is primarily where our ethnic diversity was based, but we still have [Mt Albert list MP] Melissa Lee who is now on the front bench of The National Party."
Collins argued voters won't just look at the party's diversity but how members are behaving. National's election campaign was marred by controversy, including reports of MPs leaking against Collins.
Earlier this week, former National Prime Minister Sir John Key told The AM Show National needed to take some responsibility.
"People do expect us, as John was saying, not just look at us and say, 'What can we vote for?' They're going to say, 'How are we behaving?' Collins said.
"I think that's what [Sir John] is saying as well. It's not just, 'What do you look like?' It's 'Do you look like you're listening and are you the sort of people we want to have in charge?'"
Sir John, meanwhile, said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is beatable if National's internal controversy stops.
"We have to get voters who voted for us only three years ago to say - 'They're on the right message, they're thinking about me, they've got better policies, they're exposing the weaknesses of the Government.'"
