NZ opposition leader remarks on PM called sexist

New Zealand's opposition leader was branded patronizing and old-fashioned yesterday for claiming he went easy on Prime Minister Helen Clark in a televised election debate because she is a woman.

New Zealand prides itself on its record of successful women -- including a female prime minister. The country has women in key posts like governor general, head of state, chief justice, speaker of parliament and chief executive of Telecom Corp, the nation's biggest listed company.

But in an act of gallantry that backfired badly, 64-year-old National Party leader Don Brash said he did not want to publicly attack Clark on national television during the debate, held just weeks before the planned Sept. 17 elections.

"Well, I think it's not entirely appropriate for a man to aggressively attack a woman and I restrained myself for that reason," he said after the debate, which he lost to a typically assertive and combative Clark.

"Had the other combatant been a man, my style might have been rather different," Brash said, adding that it set "a poor example for men to be seen shouting at women."

President of the National Council of Women Christine Low said she was "disappointed" with Brash's comments, saying that women need to be treated the same, especially in the cut and thrust of a political debate.

Since becoming leader of the main opposition party, Brash has demoted the only two women who held senior posts in his party.

Victoria University's Gender and Women's Studies program director Lesley Hall said women would probably find Brash's comments amusing.

"It's just patronizing. It's a bit like the knight on a white charger riding out to protect the little woman," she told the New Zealand Press Association. "I haven't heard a statement like that for a long time. It's hard to know why he said that, perhaps as justification for why he wasn't more forthright."

Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said Brash's comments were condescending and women should not be treated differently.

New Zealand First Party leader Winston Peters agreed.

"The fact is you don't run for office on the basis of gender. You're running on the basis of your ability to do the job and gender doesn't matter," he said.

Clark, 55, is fighting her 10th election campaign, and bidding to win a third consecutive term in the nation's top post.

Recent opinion polls have Brash trailing Clark between 4 and 8 percentage points with less than a month before the ballot.

Clark off Brash's comment as an excuse for losing the debate.

"I think it's just an unfortunate comment. I've grown up in New Zealand where girls can do anything and we do anything and we expect to be treated as equals. I just think it's a little quaint, a little old-fashioned," she said.