New Zealand First candidate Ron Mark has denied any suggestion that his campaign advertisement blaming "woke b******t of diversity, equity and inclusiveness" for the sinking of HMNZ Manawanui has anything to do with it being captained by a woman.
The ad, posted to social media, shows Mark saying "woke b******t of diversity, equity and inclusiveness" had gone "too far" and the sinking of the Manawanui off the coast of Samoa in 2024 was "evidence of that".
Commander Yvonne Gray was captain of the vessel when it sank and has been charged for the loss of the vessel.
Mark - a former defence minister - told RNZ he took offence at suggestions women were not fit to serve in the defence force and found it "appalling".
He said Gray had a "strong defence" and more focus should be put on the "men who made certain decisions".
"I have had the privilege to serve alongside of some outstanding officers - who were also females - who performed with absolute distinction, and I had the privilege of appointing a certain woman upon request of a Foreign Nation to a job that no man has ever done, and it was a high-level intelligence job," he said.
NZ First's defence policy and six-year defence plan has a specific clause protecting "female-specific roles" where they are "operationally advantageous" like specialised intelligence operations where female operators have better skills than their male counterparts.
Mark said it was "astonishing" that people have overlooked that clause.
"This is not an attack on women.
"The people I most listen to in my life happen to be women, so, lets just end this nonsense."
Mark said NZ First's policy was about meritocracy.
"If people want to make it into a story about Ron Mark attacking women for political reasons, I know that the men and women of the defence force will see right through that because, actually, they are doing women in the defence force who are highly professional a grave disservice."
The ad also shows Mark stating "soldiers with man buns, they don't scare anybody".
He said the New Zealand military needed to restore its "warrior ethos".
National leader Christopher Luxon was asked today if he would rule out Mark from holding the defence role again.
"I don't know why he's commenting on that because he wasn't around the table and wouldn't be that familiar with the matter, frankly. But there was a decent review done around what happened with the Manawanui, and I reject that assertion," Luxon said.
"I've got no idea what he's talking about. Maybe he's trying to cosplay [US Defence Secretary] Pete Hegseth or something. But I just say to you we've got a huge investment in our defence force. Our men and women on the defence forces are incredible people... They deserve our respect. They serve us."
But he did not rule Mark out of holding the Defence portfolio.
