Prime Minister John Key is backing further action taken by ACC Minister Judith Collins.© 2012 Fairfax New Zealand Ltd
Labour MP Trevor Mallard - who along with fellow MP Andrew Little and Radio New Zealand has been threatened with a defamation suit by Collins - today said he had received another letter from her over the matter. Mallard, Little and Radio NZ had previously been given a deadline to apologise over allegedly defamatory comments they aired about Collins. Mallard and Little said they did not respond to that letter.
Mallard today said he now had another letter from Collins setting a new deadline of this Thursday for an apology. Speaking from Jakarta where he was leading a three-day trade mission, Key said he hadn't discussed the second request for an apology with his minister.
"Fundamentally it's a matter for her now and those individual parties."
However, Key said he supported Collins in what she was doing.
"But it's a matter for her to resolve."
The second letter included a requirement that Mallard hand over the emails he had received upon which he had based some statements about Collins.
"It's a letter which has factual errors and is confused," Mallard said.
"There certainly are some opportunities in it for us not to go to court, which would involve an apology, which I doubt anyone would advise me to give in the circumstances."
Mallard said he would take further advice over the matter but had "no current intention" to respond to the latest letter. Little had also received a second letter, Mallard said.
A spokeswoman for Collins said it would be inappropriate to comment.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6751020/Collins-asks-Mallard-for-defamation-apology
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