ACC Minister Judith Collins is moving ahead with a defamation case against two Labour MPs and has filed proceedings in the High Court. The legal action centres on Ms Collins's claim that the pair defamed her on Radio New Zealand over comments about who leaked details about ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar to the media. Mr Little says he intends to cause Ms Collins the utmost inconvenience and embarrassment over what he calls her flimsy prosecution, including over how legal papers are served on him. "I think that's going to be difficult for her because she can't serve me in Parliament and if she wants to come around home and cause an inconvenience there that'll be recorded on a digital camera, available for broadcast." Mr Mallard has echoed Mr Little's approach and is also considering whether he records the serving of papers. Radio New Zealand has not heard from Ms Collins' lawyers after initially being cited. Mr Little says this confirms to him that the case is political and not a serious piece of litigation.
An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett
Justice Minister Judith Collins has initiated High Court defamation action against Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little but the two Labour MPs remain defiant, saying the case is unlikely to make it into the courthouse. Ms Collins in March said she would sue the two MPs and Radio New Zealand for comments they made during an interview on the state broadcaster which linked her to the leak of a sensitive email to her from former National Party president Michelle Boag. The High Court at Auckland yesterday confirmed proceedings against Mr Mallard and Mr Little had been filed on behalf of Ms Collins. However in a further sign Ms Collins has decided against suing Radio NZ, the broadcaster was not named in the papers. Mr Mallard late yesterday confirmed he'd received a letter from Ms Collins' lawyers Morrison Kent informing him proceedings had been filed and asking him to co-operate in allowing papers to be served on him. "I see no reason to co-operate in what is clearly a vexatious action." He did not believe a full court hearing on the matter would eventuate. "A substantive trial is exceptionally unlikely." Mr Little also received a similar request which he said he would not co-operate with either. He was confident the matter would not go to trial.
An article from the Taranaki Daily News by Lyn Humphreys
ACC Minister Judith Collins has no grounds to sue over the ACC leaks row, Labour ACC spokesman Andrew Little says. Mr Little, who is a lawyer, told the Taranaki Daily News while in New Plymouth that he had advice from four different lawyers that Ms Collins had no basis on which to attempt to sue him after comments he made to Radio New Zealand in the furore over the ACC leaks row. In March Ms Collins sent letters to Radio New Zealand and Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little threatening defamation action over their comments made during an interview about an email written by former National Party president Michelle Boag in relation to ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar. Ms Collins has stated neither she nor her office played any part in the release of the claimant's name to the media. Mr Little said he had heard nothing from Mrs Collins since receiving the letter. "She's got to make the next move. Watch this space," he said. A spokeswoman for Ms Collins said the minister was making "no comment whatsoever" on the defamation action.
Lawyers for ACC Minister Judith Collins have written to Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little advising them proceedings are being issued against them for defamation. Mr Little confirmed today he and Mr Mallard had received the letter but was not aware if proceedings had yet been filed in court. He had not been served any papers because the letter asked him to get in touch with an address - and he had no intention of providing that at this stage. Ms Collins has accused the two MPs of defaming her in relation to a leaked email from former National Party president Michelle Boag. Ms Boag had emailed Ms Collins about a case involving ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar, who blew the whistle on ACC inadvertently releasing her details about thousands of ACC claimants.
ACC Minister Judith Collins says progress on opening up ACC to the private sector is still being made. In a speech on Thursday morning, Ms Collins also said the corporation's biggest current challenge is client privacy. The previous ACC minister, Nick Smith, had already embarked upon the process of allowing private insurance companies to compete with ACC for workplace cover. He resigned last month after it was revealed he had written a reference for an ACC claimant while he was the minister. Ms Collins, who took over the portfolio, told the Employers and Manufacturers' Association on Thursday that progress is being made, but the process will not be rushed. She also talked about the recent controversies over the release of client information, saying they've understandably undermined public confidence in ACC. She said she's still not satisfied the corporation's privacy provisions are good enough, and the board is working to address that. Meanwhile, Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little are sending Ms Collins a letter of response to her threat to proceed with defamation action. In separate letters they say they will not be offering an apology, nor will they be covering her legal costs.
An article from the New Zealand Herald by Claire Trevett
ACC minister Judith Collins has told an employers group that ACC needs to rebuild public trust and had fallen short in protecting privacy after a realm of controversies and complaints about it. Ms Collins spoke to the Northern Employers and Manufacturers' Association this morning and referred to the recent controversy around it, saying privacy and information security was the biggest issue facing ACC at the moment. Her comments follow revelations ACC inadvertently emailed a database of its claimants to Bronwyn Pullar, a National Party supporter who has been in a stoush with ACC over her entitlement following a head injury in 2002. Ms Collins said it was essential that New Zealanders could trust ACC. "Understandably these matters have undermined people's confidence in ACC and the service it provides. At this stage I am not yet satisfied ACC's privacy provisions and protocols are appropriate or are being complied with to the level they should be." Ms Collins also implied ACC had gone too far in deciding cases were entitled to compensation, saying while it should not be seen as a "soft touch" it should follow a fair process. "We would like to see a renewed focus in ACC towards a rebalance of the broader responsibilities it has to all New Zealanders. It must ensure entitlements are delivered transparently and fairly to those who need them." She said she expected ACC to implement any recommendations the Privacy Commissioner might make after an investigation, but there were also many processes that could be strengthened immediately. Ms Collins is threatening to sue Labour MPs Andrew Little, Trevor Mallard and Radio NZ for defamation over comments they made relating to a leak of an email, and has said she will resign if that leak came from her or her office. She has given them until today to apologise and retract their comments. Both have said they do not intend to apologise. In her speech, Ms Collins gave few hints about whether she would back away from plans to introduce competition into the work account, which covers employers, as National had campaigned on. She told the EMA that there would be changes which would give employers more choices, but they were still being worked on. "Improvements to the scheme will offer employers choice only where it makes good sense to." In February, Ms Collins said speculation she would ditch the proposal which National had campaigned on in 2011 were 'extremely speculative" but she did believe there were better options than those outlined by Dr Smith. Sources had previously told the Herald there were concerns that introducing competition at this point would punish small and medium businesses in levy increases and open ACC to too much risk as private companies cherry picked low-risk employers as their clients. Ms Collins did give a clear indication that more employers would soon be able to sign up to the Accredited Employer Scheme which is currently restricted to large companies. That scheme allows those companies to manage their own workplace accident cover, including managing injuries and administering compensation payments. She said ACC were evaluating that scheme's success and looking to offer it more widely.
An article from Stuff by Danya Levy and John Hartevelt
Prime Minister John Key is backing further action taken by ACC Minister Judith Collins. 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.
Labour MP Trevor Mallard says he has received a letter from ACC Minister Judith Collins' lawyer threatening to proceed with defamation action unless he apologises and reveals his source. Ms Collins announced last month that she would take legal action against Mr Mallard and fellow Labour MP Andrew Little, as well as Radio New Zealand, for making allegedly defamatory remarks about her over the case of a leaked email about an ACC client. The minister has been accused of bluffing about the legal action. However, Mr Mallard confirmed today that he had received a letter from Ms Collins' lawyer. "They're asking me to give up my source and my emails, and they are again asking for a retraction and an apology," Mr Mallard told APNZ. "I'm reserving my position. Clearly I don't make formal responses without advice." Mr Mallard said he was tempted to invoke a "Arkell vs Pressdram" response - referring to a British case concerning the Private Eye magazine. In the 1971 case, when told by the plaintiff's lawyer that his client's attitude to damages would "be governed by the nature of your reply", the magazine replied: "We would be grateful if you would inform us what his attitude to damages would be were he to learn that the nature of our reply is as follows: **** off." The letter from Ms Collins' lawyer gave a deadline of this Thursday. Mr Little said he had also received a letter and was speaking to a lawyer, but that he "wasn't losing sleep over it". "Basically it says please apologise the way we've asked you to do before, and if you don't we will proceed," he said. "Subject to talking further with the lawyer, the letter hasn't changed my view that I don't think an apology is required." Ms Collins has continued to deny allegations from the Opposition that she or her office was responsible for leaking an email sent to her by former National Party president Michelle Boag. The email gave details about Bronwyn Pullar, the ACC claimant who went to the media last month after being mistakenly sent the details of about 7000 ACC clients. Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff is investigating how the email got to the media, and Ms Collins has told Parliament she will resign if the leak is found to have come from someone in her charge.
ACC Minister Judith Collins has confirmed she has hired Julian Miles QC to deal with her defamation case. Ms Collins is taking the case against two Labour MPs, Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little, and Radio New Zealand over comments about the leaking of an ACC claimant's name to the media.
An article from the Dominion Post by Vernon Small and John Hartevelt
ACC Minister Judith Collins has promised to quit if she or her office is found to have leaked an email at the centre of a spat over an ACC claimant as the auditor-general launches an investigation into governance at the state insurer. ACC hit the headlines after it was revealed that the details of more than 6000 clients were accidentally sent to claimant and former National Party activist Bronwyn Pullar. Ms Collins became caught up in the controversy when an email sent to her and a staff member about Ms Pullar was leaked to the media. Ms Collins has insisted the leak did not come from her office and told Parliament yesterday she would resign if that was disproven. "Of course I would, because I have integrity," Ms Collins said. She would not say if she had filed court papers over a defamation suit against Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little and Radio New Zealand over remarks made about the issue. Asked if she could guarantee court action, Ms Collins said: "I'm guaranteeing that I'm taking a lot of advice on this matter and that as far as I'm aware, matters are proceeding." The alleged defamation last week had been exacerbated by the behaviour of Mr Mallard, Mr Little and by Labour leader David Shearer, she said. Mr Little, along with Green MP Kevin Hague, earlier asked Auditor-General Lyn Provost to look into aspects of ACC's governance that would not be examined by the investigations already under way by the privacy commissioner and being considered by the police. Ms Provost said yesterday she would hold an inquiry examining aspects of ACC's governance. "The inquiry will examine how ACC manages a range of risks at the board level of the organisation. It will also examine how any matters relating to ACC claimant Ms Pullar that came to the attention of the board or individual board members were dealt with," she said. As well as this inquiry, Ms Provost intended to develop an audit proposal on ACC's general operations, with a focus on its case management. Mr Little welcomed the inquiry, saying Labour hoped it would be widened to include the behaviour of ministers in the case. "The inquiry by the auditor-general into how ACC manages conflicts of interest and relationships between board members, clients and staff is an opportunity to examine the real problems plaguing the agency," he said. ACC Futures spokeswoman Hazel Armstrong said her organisation had been concerned for some time about the culture at the top of ACC. In the past four years an increasing number of claims had been rejected and there had been an increase in appeals against ACC's decisions, she said.
8. CHARLES CHAUVEL (Labour) to the Minister of Justice: Does she stand by all the answers she has given to questions asked of her to date?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Justice): Yes, so long as they are in context and I am not being misquoted.
Charles Chauvel: Why did she tell the House on 21 March that the current rate of breaches of police safety orders is “not anywhere near what anyone else would expect”, only to tell the Waikato Times today that legislation was needed this year to increase the penalty for such breaches, and should the House believe that there is a problem, as she told a newspaper today, or that there is not a problem, as she told the House last month?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Well, of course, I have been misquoted by the Waikato Times. What I have here is in fact an email from my office to the Waikato Times yesterday, advising it what the correct information was. It misquoted it; it has now retracted it and corrected it.
Charles Chauvel: Why did she tell the House yesterday that the inquiry by the Privacy Commissioner relates to “privacy matters in ACC and what has happened to particular emails and other documents. It is not specifically about my office”, yet when Andrew Little asked her directly last Thursday questions about her office such as “When was the email she received … from Michelle Boag concerning Bronwyn Pullar … first printed by … her office?” she declined to answer, on the ground that the matter was before the Privacy Commissioner, and should the House believe what she said yesterday, or last Thursday, or both, or neither?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Obviously I am right on this matter, because Mr Little’s question was regarding a breach of privacy that has been claimed in relation to something in March. That is part of the terms of reference of the Privacy Commissioner’s review, so I do not know what is wrong with that.
Charles Chauvel: Why did she tell the House yesterday that as Minister of Justice she has no ministerial authority or responsibility for threatening news media and members of this House with meritless defamation proceedings, when she wrote to threaten just such proceedings last Thursday on her official letterhead, which describes her as Minister of Justice?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: This is too easy: because they are not meritless.
Charles Chauvel: How long will this Minister continue to give inconsistent answers to questions put to her, to give spurious excuses to avoid answering inconvenient questions, and to try to bully the media and members of this House via threats of meritless defamation proceedings, and does she not think that the public expects better from the Minister of Justice?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: There are four questions there, and most of them insulting. However, what I do know is that the public expects members of Parliament to have integrity and courage, and it is something that member should think about.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: Will the Minister resign if it is found that either she or someone whom she has had authority over was responsible for the leak in question?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Of course I would, because I have integrity—something that is lacking for some people. I seek the leave of the House to table the email from my office to the Waikato Times yesterday with the correct information.
Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. Document, by leave, laid on the Table of the House.
NICKY WAGNER (National—Christchurch Central): What action—[Interruption]
Mr SPEAKER: I apologise to the member. There is no way I can hear Nicky Wagner at the back of the House there. The previous question has now been dealt with, and I want to hear Nicky Wagner on question No. 9.
Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The only point is that as you said that, you looked this way. Actually, it was the Minister again who stimulated the interjections.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The noise I heard coming from my left prevented me from hearing Nicky Wagner, and that is what I was responding to.
National Party MP and ACC Minister Judith Collins has been accused of bluffing her way through a defamation law suit. Ms Collins is suing two Labour MPs and Radio New Zealand (RNZ) over allegations she leaked a confidential email to the media. The email contained information about ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar, the woman at the centre of a row that led to the resignation last month of cabinet minister Nick Smith. Ms Collins claims her reputation has been damaged and wants Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little to produce evidence supporting their claims. “It’s very easy to make allegations in the house and even to repeat them outside the house. “At the end of the day, the question should be, ‘Where is the evidence?’.” The Labour MPs are refusing to do so and suggest Ms Collins may be bluffing, as no legal papers have been served or filed in court. Mr Mallard is standing his ground, saying he has “pretty extensive” material to support his case. Mr Mallard would not be drawn on how confident he felt about his case, but told media on Tuesday: "Clearly I've got good legal advice and I've taken that advice". Asked whether Ms Collins was being petty, he said: "I think she's in some trouble politically and she has ambitions to the leadership of the National Party and she's trying to protect her back". Ms Collins has repeatedly said she will drop the action if the three respondents showed their evidence or apologised. However, Mr Mallard says that is not going to happen. "I'm satisfied with the material that I've got, which is pretty extensive," he said. "It is my view that we should let the case run if she wants to let it run because I think that will be more interesting." He would not repeat the alleged defamatory comment. "That would involve me releasing Judith Collins' letter (advising him of legal action) which is something for her to do and not for me, I'm advised." Ms Collins said on Tuesday that she'd received a written response to her letter from Radio New Zealand, but not from either MP. However, she was "certainly not" dropping the case against the state broadcaster. Both Ms Collins and the Labour MPs confirmed on Monday they will pay their own costs, although the taxpayer will be required to pick up state-funded Radio New Zealand's bill.
An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett
ACC Minister Judith Collins will continue her legal action against two Labour MPs and Radio NZ but has decided to pay the hefty legal costs herself rather than asking the taxpayer to foot the bill. Ms Collins is suing Trevor Mallard, Andrew Little and Radio NZ for comments they made during an interview on the state-owned broadcaster over the leak of an email sent to her by former National Party president Michelle Boag. Yesterday, Ms Boag denied she was seeking Ms Collins' intervention in her friend Bronwyn Pullar's ACC claim in the email, which was sent just a few days before ACC referred the case to the police last month. Ms Collins said the alleged defamation occurred "in relation to me carrying out my duties as Minister for ACC". "Even though I am fully entitled to do so, I have not asked Cabinet for funding", she said. "I trust that Mr Mallard and Mr Little are prepared to fund their own defence." Prime Minister John Key said the matter was not discussed at yesterday's Cabinet meeting as Ms Collins had already decided not to ask her fellow ministers to approve the funding. That was consistent with what she told him last Wednesday night when he first discussed the matter with her. Mr Key was saying as late as Sunday that it was not known whether the Crown or Ms Collins would pick up the bill, but yesterday said she had informed him of her decision that morning. Labour leader David Shearer said his two MPs would pay their own legal costs and indicated Labour would keep up its attacks on the Government over its handling of the ACC fiasco. "Labour will continue to ask questions about the massive privacy breach at ACC. We will also continue to hold the Government to account in terms of allegations of cronyism." Meanwhile, the Herald has now seen a copy of Ms Boag's email to Ms Collins which was leaked to the Herald on Sunday. The email is dated March 14, just two days after news broke of the massive privacy breach at ACC. Ms Pullar was subsequently identified as the source of those reports. In the email's final paragraph, Ms Boag tells Ms Collins: "It would be good to reach an agreement with Bronwyn on the way forward so that the issue can be put to bed, she can get on with trying to reduce her dependence on ACC in the future by rebuilding her consultancy business and the ACCcan get on with more productive tasks." Last night, Ms Boag said the email referred only to the December meeting. "I wasn't asking the minister to do anything." The email also explains why communications between Ms Pullar and the ACC ceased after the December meeting also attended by Ms Boag where ACC alleges Ms Pullar said she would tell the media of the privacy breach unless she was given a two-year guaranteed benefit. "Bronwyn had advised ACC that as she was getting married in early January ... she would be unable to respond to any communication for six weeks."
Michelle Boag's March 14 Email to ACC Minister Judith Collins *Some names removed - denoted with an ellipsis
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON BRONWYN PULLAR ACC CLAIM 1. Bronwyn Pullar suffered a head injury in a bicycle accident in December 2002. Prior to this she was a highly successful senior marketing executive who was respected by her peers. Following the accident, Bronwyn suffered significant cognitive impairment and in the first two years following the accident, both her insurance company and ACC did not respond appropriately with rehabilitative care that would have allowed her optimum recuperation. As a consequence Bronwyn suffers serious fatigue every day, gets headaches and has cognitive impairments which affect her ability to pick up errors in her writing (she requires assistance to check all her communications as she often makes mistakes that she does not recognise. This did not happen before the accident). 2. In 2007 Bronwyn reached a confidential settlement with the insurance company who had covered her for income protection insurance. This followed five years of extensive engagement during which time the insurance company mishandled her claim, breached privacy and lost her file, amongst other things. 3. Prior to the accident Bronwyn was always meticulous. After the accident this meticulousness became obsessive - she records all communications in detail, focuses on minutiae and has interpreted some of ACC's actions as conspiracy rather than mistake - with some justification. For example, an ACC Doctor was found to have colluded with a medical assessor to pre-determine an assessment for Bronwyn, alleged fraud in internal emails and after he was removed from the case, attempted to obtain Bronwyn's personal medical records from her GP while fraudulently posing as a person authorised by ACC to collect this data. It was this considerable breach of her privacy that was the subject of Bronwyn's complaint to ACC. It was in response to this complaint that ACC inadvertently sent to Bronwyn a file containing thousands of names, contact details and summary statistics regarding matters of review, branch identifiers and dates. I have full details of this particular breach of privacy if you want to see them. It should be stated that while this staff member was apparently "reprimanded" he remains on staff with no apparent consequences. 4. Addressing the issue of the major privacy breach - I am sending you under separate cover an email from Bronwyn enclosing the details of the meeting held in December, at which I was present, where, after years of extensive mishandling of Bronwyn's claim and after she had approached a board member, senior management (Phil Murch and Hans Verbene) met with us to attempt to come to a reasonable settlement on the way forward. The documents in the email I am forwarding to you represent the objectives Bronwyn had for the meeting, which included recognition that she was unable to work a full time week , but allowed her some space (two years) to get on with trying to re-establish her consultancy business. Bronwyn also asked for the privacy breach to be investigated. 5. At that meeting in December Bronwyn advised the ACC managers that a serious breach of privacy had occurred. As she says in her email which follows, it was verbally agreed in that meeting that on agreement on the way forward, Bronwyn would return that document. We walked away from that meeting thinking we had an agreement which Mr Murch would put in writing. When it was received 8 days later, it did not reflect our discussions, including the fact that it only allowed her one year to re-establish her business rather than two years, which she did not regard as sufficient. 6. You will see in the correspondence attached to the email I am forwarding that while Mr Murch asked for the return of the data, he did not acknowledge that this would be contingent on reaching an agreement acceptable to both parties, which was our understanding. It also needs to be stated that Bronwyn had advised ACC that as she was getting married in early January and organising the wedding was placing substantial pressure on her impaired cognitive state, she would be unable to respond to any communication for 6 weeks. This was responsible for the delay in any further negotiation with Mr Murch. 7. You should also be aware that Bronwyn has an email tracking device that allows her to know when her emails are opened. Following the meeting in December, the email where she was inadvertently sent the unauthorised data was not opened until 12 March 2012. If ACC had been serious about getting the data returned and investigating the breach, then surely the first thing they would have done on returning to the office would have been to go through all emails to her to see what material had been inadvertently sent. As I said, this was not in fact done until the story had appeared in the Dominion Post. 8. It is also important to note that the email sent to the Dominion Post journalist contained no names, no contact details or identifiers. Bronwyn blacked out all this information and only left undeleted summary statistics of review data, review dates and branch statistics. Therefore she has not breached the personal privacy of anyone on that spreadsheet. 9. Bronwyn has also advised that she complained to the Privacy Commissioner, the Ombudsman and the State Services Commissioner about the privacy breach made by ... (referred to in 3. above), in each case forwarding an email received from ACC about the actions taken in respect of Dr ... . It was this email responding to her complaint that contained the unauthorised spreadsheet. Bronwyn deleted the spreadsheet from the email she forwarded to the Privacy Commissioner and the Ombudsman, but inadvertently failed to delete it on the copy she sent to ... at the State Services Commission, who therefore is the only other party to now hold that file after Bronwyn has deleted it from her hard drive and her email system (an assurance that has been given to ACC). 10. This saga is one of extensive incompetent handling and privacy breaches, no doubt consuming thousands of hours of ACC management time. Since the meeting in December Bronwyn has been asked to undergo further assessments. It would be good to reach an agreement with Bronwyn on the way forward so that the issue can be put to bed, she can get on with trying to reduce her dependence on ACC in the future by rebuilding her consultancy business and the ACC can get on with more productive tasks. Please feel free to call me with any questions.
A press release from the New Zealand Government by Judith Collins
ACC Minister Judith Collins today announced she is to continue defamation action against two Labour Party MPs, Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little, and Radio New Zealand, under the Defamation Act. “Last week I sent a letter to each of the parties who have defamed me giving them an opportunity to respond. “Mr Mallard and Mr Little have chosen not to respond, and Radio New Zealand has responded accordingly. “The defamation occurred in relation to me carrying out my duties as Minister for ACC. “Even though I am fully entitled to do so, I have not asked Cabinet for funding. “I trust that Mr Mallard and Mr Little are prepared to fund their own defence. “Alternatively, there would be no cost and no case to answer if Mr Mallard, Mr Little and Radio New Zealand told the truth and presented their evidence. “If they cannot do so, they should apologise and retract their comments,” said Ms Collins.
An editorial from the Manawatu Standard by Michael Cummings
Cabinet Minister Judith Collins has been labelled "thin-skinned" for threatening legal action against two Labour MPs and a news organisation over the ACC privacy fiasco, an accusation that is either sound or scurrilous, depending on whose side you're on. While some will argue Ms Collins is being, in NZ First leader Winston Peters' words, "a tad hysterical", others will say she has every right to protect her reputation if she thinks it's been unfairly besmirched. What seems far more clear-cut, though, is the political wisdom of such a heavy-handed response from the ACC Minister. Quite simply, there is none. This Government has lost complete control of its agenda, lurching from faux pas, to own goal, to scandal as its message is drowned out by a cacophony of peripheral noise. Ms Collins might feel personally justified in taking defamation proceedings against Radio NZ and Labour MPs Andrew Little and Trevor Mallard, but she's only throwing fuel on a fire her Government needs to extinguish. Ms Collins has been questioned about who leaked an email containing personal details about ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar, but says she's "100 per cent certain" the leak wasn't from her or her office. If she's so confident of her position, it would have been eminently more sensible to hold her ground and let the saga blow over. Instead, she's thrown the parliamentary press gallery another angle to the controversy, which will fill column centimetres that could have otherwise been dedicated to what the Government is trying to achieve to better the lives of New Zealanders. Much like Prime Minister John Key's handling of the so-called "tea tapes" controversy, Ms Collins' strong stance has only upped the ante, when taking a bit of short-term political pain and moving on would have been much smarter. National needs to pull itself out of the political mire it's in and get back on message. At the moment, the Opposition is having to do little more than watch the Government repeatedly punch itself in the face, then rub a bit of salt into the wounds. While the public finds the intrigue surrounding political scandals mildly entertaining, they're far more interested in issues that affect their daily lives – the state of the economy, the cost of living, the standard of health services, the availability of jobs. If National is to shake itself out of its funk, it needs to be far more disciplined in managing the political agenda. It needs the public to be discussing the merits of its policies, not the thickness of its ACC Minister's skin.
An article from the Dominion Post by Tracy Watkins and Danya Levy
Prime Minister John Key has revealed he and his staff took the extraordinary step of combing through his parliamentary and electorate office files for evidence of any official contact with ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar as her case drags National into a widening ACC scandal. Mr Key said the search confirmed there had been no contact other than at social functions where Ms Pullar had raised her beef with ACC with him. A letter from Ms Pullar's private insurance company Sovereign detailing a $14 million claim was leaked on Thursday. It showed Mr Key's name on a list of high-profile people who were claimed to be Ms Pullar's supporters. Ms Pullar yesterday said Mr Key had not helped her with her claim and she had only one conversation with him about her fight for compensation. "It was at a National Party Christmas function in Auckland when he was the MP for Helensville. I was very distressed at the time and I took the opportunity to vent my frustrations. He listened politely, but I did not ask him to do anything and he did not offer to assist." Ms Pullar said she had been asked by "one of her advisers" to write a list of people who knew about her dispute with Sovereign. The letter referred to her $14m claim but it is understood she settled with the insurer for about $1m. Mr Key said it was nothing new for him to be a victim of name dropping, but he knew he had nothing to hide. "I've never been part of any support group or advisory group. I don't have Bronwyn Pullar's mobile phone or any other phone number in my phone. I've never rung her. I've gone through all my electorate office and/or parliamentary office files. There has never been any correspondence received from her or sent to her," he told Close Up. "If anyone believes I'm not telling the truth, well, bring out the information and good luck to you because you'll have to be imagining a situation I wasn't involved in." National is being torn apart by a series of leaks which resulted in the downfall of former ACC Minister Nick Smith, who got involved in Ms Pullar's case without declaring a conflict of interest over their close friendship. Speculation over the source of one of the leaks this week saw ACC Minister Judith Collins threaten to sue Labour MPs Andrew Little and Trevor Mallard and Radio New Zealand. But after the two MPs failed to meet a 5pm Thursday deadline to apologise, Ms Collins yesterday refused to comment on her next step. Fate drew three of the central figures in the saga – Ms Pullar, support person Michelle Boag and Mr Key – to Queenstown yesterday. Ms Boag was the author of the email to Ms Collins which which was leaked. Ms Collins has denied that she or her office leaked it. But while Ms Boag and Ms Pullar apparently caught up, lunching together in Queenstown, Ms Boag and Mr Key never crossed paths, despite being at the same golf tournament. Sovereign general manager of marketing David Drillien said yesterday he was "very confident" the letter, shown on television had not been leaked by his company. "It looked to me like it was an original that was mailed out." Sovereign had an electronic copy of the letter which was only accessible to a few people, he said.
An article from the New Zealand Herald by Adam Bennett
It has been confirmed that ACC Minister Judith Collins is planning legal action against Labour Party politicians Andrew Little and Trevor Mallard and Radio NZ for alleged defamation. It follows confirmation the Privacy Commission will investigate the email Ms Collins received from former National Party president Michelle Boag which helped end her colleague Nick Smith's ministerial career. Ms Collins has announced she is taking legal action for allegedly defamatory comments made outside the House by the two Labour Party politicians, and also the radio station. While she initially would not name who the MPs or the media outlet were, she confirmed their identities this afternoon. Labour deputy leader Grant Robertson says the MPs involved in Ms Collins legal bid are Mallard and Little, and they had received papers. Mr Roberson said he did not want to comment on the legal action, "other than to say we are doing our job holding the Government to account". "There are serious questions to be answered here about the trust and confidence from the Government about how information about a private individual made its way into the public arena." "Untrue and defamatory statements have been made about me and my conduct in relation to the handling of information I received concerning an ACC claimant," Ms Collins said in a statement this morning. "I value my reputation and take very seriously any accusations that I have acted improperly. This is not a course of action I take lightly. "I have made myself extremely clear from the outset, that neither I, nor my office, has played any part in the release of the claimant's name to the media." Ms Collins denied to Radio Live the move was a ploy to close down debate on the issue. Confirmation that Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff will investigate the email's trail from Ms Boag to an eventual report in the Herald on Sunday came as Labour claimed Ms Collins, National Party operative Simon Lusk and right-wing blogger Cameron Slater all played a part in the leak. In the email, Ms Boag set out her account of a December meeting she attended between ACC claimant and former National Party insider Bronwyn Pullar and senior ACC managers. All recipients of the email, including Ms Collins, ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart and ACC chairman John Judge have denied leaking the email to the Herald on Sunday. The Herald on Sunday's report named Ms Pullar as the woman at the centre of a major privacy breach at ACC and identified Ms Boag as her support person at the December meeting. At that meeting ACC claims Ms Pullar attempted to strike a deal to exchange the private information of thousands of other ACC claimants in return for a guaranteed benefit. It subsequently emerged that Dr Smith, who was ACC Minister, wrote two letters supporting his old friend Ms Pullar's pursuit of her ACC claim, errors for which he resigned last week. Ms Collins said the investigation, which she was told of early yesterday after a discussion with Ms Shroff on Tuesday night, was a "very good idea". The commission's work "may involve computer forensic investigation", she said. "Frankly I welcome that." Labour has been pressing for the Auditor-General to investigate Ms Pullar's use of her political connections to advance her ACC case and the role of ACC's board in setting up the December meeting. In Parliament yesterday, Labour's Trevor Mallard questioned Ms Collins on her handling of Ms Boag's email, asking whether she or any of her staff discussed its contents with Mr Lusk. Ms Collins said she had not, but Labour's deputy leader, Grant Robertson, pressed the attack later in a general debate. "We know there are many National Party figures involved in this, with the mention of Simon Lusk's name. So we want to know about Simon Lusk's phone calls to Judith Collins' office." Mr Robertson called on Ms Collins to ensure all emails in and out of her office, text messages and phone calls were made available to the Privacy Commissioner. Mr Lusk was the manager of the Vote for Change campaign against MMP last year and among other roles has served as Napier MP Chris Tremain's campaign manager, in 2008.
WHO SAW EMAIL * Michelle Boag - the sender of the email and Bronwyn Pullar's friend and supporter. * ACC Minister Judith Collins - the recipient of the email who then forwarded it to: * ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart and his secretary, and: * ACC chairman John Judge.
ACC Minister Judith Collins says she's taking defamation proceedings against two Labour MPs and a news organisation. She says they have defamed her outside of Parliament, but won’t name them. Ms Collins says she takes her reputation seriously, which is why she is launching proceedings today. Labour wants a QC or a judge to hold an inquiry into the leaked email. There's a political firestorm around the email because only four people are known to have had access to it - Ms Collins, a member of her staff, ACC chairman John Judge and chief executive Ralph Stewart. Ms Collins says her office didn't leak it to the media and Mr Judge says it didn't come from ACC. The email detailed a meeting ACC claimant Bronwyn Pullar had with corporation officials, and was sent to Ms Collins by former National Party president Michelle Boag who was helping Ms Pullar with her claim. Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff is going to investigate the leak but Labour MP Trevor Mallard says that's not good enough. He says the investigation should be raised to the level of a full ministerial inquiry. "The privacy commissioner can't put people under oath or require information in the way a QC or a judge doing a ministerial inquiry could," he said on Thursday. "We need someone with those powers to conduct and organise a proper inquiry." Ms Collins has told parliament the leak didn't come from her office but she's admitted a hard copy of the email was printed. "We now have electronic copies and hard copies running around and we need someone who can look at faxes, emails and text messages," Mr Mallard said. He disclosed to Radio New Zealand on Thursday that he's been receiving information for a year from a source who knows about "internal things within the National Party" and hinted he knew more about the email than had been revealed so far.
