Craig to sue for defamation
Former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig has come out firing, accusing the ‘‘dirty politics brigade’’ of a conspiracy to destroy his reputation.
At an extraordinary press conference yesterday, Craig let rip at individuals he claimed were manipulating politics.
Craig was forced to step down as leader of the party he founded, after allegations of sexual harassment in relation to his former press secretary Rachel MacGregor.
Craig has rejected all allegations, but in a press conference in June admitted there had been ‘‘inappropriate behaviour’’.
Yesterday, Craig announced he would be launching defamation action against Jordan Williams, John Stringer and Whaleoil blogger Cameron Slater. Slater, and to a slightly lesser extent Williams, were both at the centre of investigative journalist Nicky Hager’s last book Dirty Politics.
Released just before the 2014 election, the book drew on hacked emails belonging to Slater and detailed the links between him and Prime Minister John Key’s office, as well as other National party members and private lobbyists.
Stringer, until his resignation last month, was a Conservative Party board member and has been an outspoken critic of Craig since the allegations were first levelled.
The allegations swirling around Craig prompted mass resignations of the board – including Craig’s own brother and former party chief executive Christine Rankin.
Craig is seeking damages of $300,000 from Williams, $600,000 from Stringer and $650,000 from Slater.
‘‘Today is a good day because this is the day we start to fight back against the dirty politics brigade who have been running a defamation strategy against me.’’
Craig denied sexual harassment claims and said he had ‘‘never sent a sext in my life’’.
The time since he had stood down as party leader had been put to good use, investigating how the alleged campaign against him was being run.
‘‘It’s very significant when someone runs a campaign, and we’ve got two people named here, who have run a campaign week after week after week. The sheer amount of defamatory allegations they’ve made is huge.
‘‘Today the line is drawn. Either the dirty politics brigade is telling the truth or I am. The New Zealand public need certainty about the truth of these claims.’’
His wife, Helen Craig, said in the 28 years she had known her husband, he had proven himself to be a man of integrity and honesty. ‘‘We’ve got good women in this country and a good woman knows how to stand by her man when he’s under attack.’’