Note: This story was first published on Tuesday May 15

Winston Peters may have amused Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard when he made a wisecrack about the opposition in Question Time today, but the National Party's leaders seemed less than impressed.

The Deputy Prime Minister rose to his feet to interject during a debate between Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and National Party leader Simon Bridges.

"Does the Prime Minister accept though that there may be a cause for downwards wage adjustment for poor professional performance such as is coming from the opposition at the present time," Mr Peters said, just hiding a wry smile.

The comment led to laughs from his side of the House before the Speaker chimed in.

"No. no, it's a very good question but it's not within the Prime Minister's responsibility," Mr Mallard said, which led to a cry of dissent from National's Paula Bennett.

"That's not a very good question!" Ms Bennett replied.