Beleaguered Cabinet Minister David Benson-Pope has tonight released the personal statement that he was denied permission to read in Parliament this afternoon.

Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper says it shows he has been seeking clarification from those at the centre of complaints made when he was a teacher at Dunedin's Bayfield High School in 1997.

Mr Benson-Pope says yesterday he received two documents from the school: the complaint that he entered a girls' shower room; and that he stood in a dormitory when girls were getting dressed, a complaint that he claims never to have seen before, along with what appears to be a draft reply.

He says last night he spoke to the then principal who was unsure whether he showed him the complaint, although he believes he raised policy issues with him.

Mr Benson-Pope says the board were unaware of any complaint but he apologises for any upset he caused former students.