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Winston Peters: I have not dropped case against English and National MPs

Author
NZN,
Publish Date
Thu, 1 Mar 2018, 12:15PM
NZ First leader Winston Peters. (Photo \ Mark Mitchell)
NZ First leader Winston Peters. (Photo \ Mark Mitchell)

Winston Peters: I have not dropped case against English and National MPs

Author
NZN,
Publish Date
Thu, 1 Mar 2018, 12:15PM

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters' lawyer says a breach of privacy lawsuit against former prime minister Bill English and other National MPs over a pension overpayment leak is still on.

Reports emerged on Wednesday the case had been dropped but Brian Henry on Thursday morning said that was incorrect.

Mr Peters earlier this month withdrew his action against two journalists who were initially named in legal documents.

"The journalists were never causative of damage ... but we needed their information which they very kindly provided on affidavit and we now know what happened in that area," Mr Henry told RNZ.

"Those two are definitely out ... the other defendants are at large."

In the weeks before last year's general election, stories emerged Mr Peters had paid back thousands of dollars after wrongfully receiving higher superannuation payments over a seven-year period.

After the election, he initiated legal processes against those he alleged leaked the information and the journalists involved.

Mr Peters last year issued legal documents seeking phone records, notes and documents relating to the alleged leak from Mr English, Steven Joyce, Paula Bennett and Anne Tolley, as well as former chief of staff Wayne Eagleson and former campaign staffer Clark Hennessy.

Mr Henry wouldn't say who Mr Peters intended to continue pursuing. They had not yet filed a statement of claim.

A pre-trial application had been resolved - where Mr Peters had paid reasonable costs to the parties for providing documents, he said.

Earlier this month, he confirmed the action against the two journalists - Newsroom's Tim Murphy and Newshub's Lloyd Burr - had been amicably resolved.

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