Craig’s love life revisited as defamation case opens
Blogger who is target of former Conservative leader’s action is counter-suing for $16.2m
The blogger counter-suing former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig is seeking more than $16 million in damages. But Craig will have to leave how much he is potentially awarded up to the courts.
His defamation case against rightwing blogger Cameron Slater began yesterday in the High Court at Auckland before Justice Kit Toogood.
He claims 18 publications between April 29 and July 19, 2015, were “seriously defamatory” and culminated in his stepping down from the Conservative Party.
He said his political aspirations were ruined and his reputation had been destroyed.
The defamation case will mean revisiting Craig’s relationship with his former press secretary Rachel MacGregor which was central to another suit late last year.
Craig said the central claims Slater made against him were:
That he had sexually harassed MacGregor.
He’d given her a “large sum of hush money” which Slater claimed proved the harassment.
Craig had lied because he told his party and the public the accusations weren’t true.
Craig was a “sexual deviant” and had harassed another woman.
Craig engaged in “devious conduct” regarding the Conservative Party.
Slater repeated the allegations in statements to mainstream media and Craig referred to a Whale Oil post in which he said: “Look these allegations are true, I wouldn’t have published them if they weren’t.”
Slater is defending the suit on the grounds of truth.
Craig said he was forced to defend himself at a press conference and in a leaflet titled Dirty Politics and Hidden Agendas which he distributed to 1.6m households.
Slater is counter-suing Craig for what he said in those instances.
Because Craig is suing a media outlet, if the court rules in his favour it will decide what damages he is awarded.
However, Slater is suing an individual so is able to seek a specific amount, namely $16,234,020.
During MacGregor’s time as press secretary for the Conservative Party, Craig said they developed a “close and affectionate” relationship.
They had similar interests, like their Christian faith, and shared a passion for poetry, reading and song.
In November, 2011, he sent her a letter describing his feelings.
“There’s a difference of opinion whether that letter was appreciated or not.”
By 2014, they had developed a “brother-sister” relationship — she gave him back massages to ease pain and her mother brought him soup.
He said their numerous texts and letters were “mutual”.
Other colleagues warned him that MacGregor had developed “strong feelings” but he ignored them because he enjoyed her affections.
On a flight from Napier to Auckland in 2014, she allegedly propositioned him. Craig claimed she said: “I want to be with you. I want to be more than just your press secretary.” Four days later, she resigned. One of Slater’s allegations was that two days before that, Craig told MacGregor he’d slept well because he imagined lying on her naked legs.
No text was found in a forensic examination of his phone and the defendant could not produce a copy of the message. Craig said this showed Slater was lying.
The trial is set down for three weeks.
Rave
To the young woman who gave us a clean, dry towel to wrap up my twoand-a-half-year-old daughter at Kitekite Falls after she and her dad tumbled down a steep embankment and plunged into the river on Anzac Day. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts — our little one made a quick recovery from the shock and she would've shivered considerably less on the way back. Natalie
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There’s motorbikes that zoom up and down the Wai-O-Taiki nature reserve when clearly there’s a sign that says no motorbikes. They are a nuisance to not only the wildlife but also to the neighbours. Council needs to do something. Geoff
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We took our grandchildren over to Waiheke Island for the day over the weekend. Huge rave to Fullers. The kids loved their journey to and from, their smiles and laughter made our whole weekend. Pop and Nan