And so Collins’ “defamation” case against Mallard and Little ends, not with a bang, but a whimper:
ACC Minister Judith Collins’ defamation action against Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little has been settled following a hearing in the High Court at Auckland today. …
In a statement today following their meeting, the three parliamentarians said they agreed “the leak of the email Ms Boag sent to the minister and forwarded on her instructions as the responsible minister to the chairman and chief executive of ACC raised an issue of serious public concern, and that Messrs Mallard and Little were entitled to question who was responsible for that leak”.
More than “entitled – that’s their job.
“The parties continue to differ over whether the comments made by Messrs Mallard and Little respectively on Radio NZ implied the minister falsely assured the House that neither she nor her office was responsible for the leak.
I bet they do.
“Messrs Mallard and Little have confirmed to Ms Collins that was not their intention and wish to make that clear publicly that in the event such meaning was taken they regret it.”
Ahh – the old “apologise for giving offense” non-apology trick. I nearly titled this post “Collins folds, Farrar spindles and mutilates” (ancient idiom), because DPF is of course trying to spin this as a win for Collins. Good luck with that!
In the statement, the three politicians said they would make no further comment.
An appropriate end to an ill-advised lawsuit.
Update: – Collins’ goals going in to this: “Justice Minister Judith Collins is not seeking damages, but wants the court to declare she was defamed and to award her costs in her case against two Labour MPs.” Not achieved.
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