New Zealand PM stands by 'sugar daddy' comments

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key doesn't think there's anything wrong with referring to Kim Dotcom as Internet Party leader Laila Harre's "sugar daddy".

Mr Key made the comments on RadioLive on Wednesday and Ms Harre told the same radio station she found them "deeply offensive, totally sexist and bordering on defamation".

"To talk about me as somebody who would have a sugar daddy, given the integrity that I bring into the political system, I find deeply offensive," Ms Harre said.

Asked later if he stood by the comments, Mr Key said he did.

"I think it's totally accurate," he told reporters.

"He funds her."

Mr Key denied the comments were offensive or sexist.

"I think she is literally being funded by Kim Dotcom ... if he wasn't putting up the money, she wouldn't be there," Mr Key said.

He didn't accept that there was a sexual component to a sugar daddy, defining it as "someone who funds somebody else".

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a sugar daddy as "a rich older man who lavishes gifts on a young woman in return for her company or sexual favours".