Toby Fisher, husband of UK High Commissioner to New Zealand Laura Clarke, added fuel to a traditional controversy surrounding the Wellington bucket fountain, calling it the "the crappiest fountain ever".
A screenshot of a tweet, depicting a statement by Toby Fisher, husband of UK High Commissioner to New Zealand Laura Clarke, regarding the Bucket Fountain in New Zealand.
© Photo : Toby Fisher
"And to those who doubt it, I assure you I love this city deeply, even when watching football in a southerly when the rain falls horizontal so you can’t feel your nose", he added in a reply.
Fisher, who is a barrister also joked that, considering the reaction to his statement, people would also love his tweets "on constitutional and international law".
The wife soon replied, denouncing his statement in a joking tweet as well.
"As British high commissioner to NZ I’d like to be clear that the opinions of my husband … in no way represent my views, or the position of the British Government".
New Zeland politicians, as well as common citizens, rushed to respond to Fisher's joke.
Climate change minister James Shaw replied "Fight me", while ex-opposition leader Judith Collins called him "brave" for expressing dissatisfaction with the fountain.
One of the comments summed it up, saying that Fisher were not able to understand the real beauty of the fountain, noting that "there's a fine line between iconic and crap.